Searching for a Saviour
by Lady-Hermione23
Summary: There are ENTIRELY too many Remus slash stories. This one is a Remus romance to start out, with more action toward the end. Set during 7th year after events from Harry Potter and the Looking Glass. Please read and review!
1. Prologue

Harry Potter and his whole world belong to JK Rowling. I am borrowing them and writing what I hope might happen in future books

****

Prologue

I knew he would be following me. I had to get away. I didn't even bother to close the door behind me when I left; I just ran. We live near a highway, so that's where I headed. I ran as long as I could, and then I ran some more. I was miles away when the pain in my side forced me to slow to a walk. Trying to regulate my breathing somewhat, I tried to make some sense of my new predicament.

I couldn't go back; that much was certain. Noah would never allow me to return unscathed. I had no money. My family lived hours away, but that didn't matter because I had no car and no way of contacting them. I barely had any clothes.

I realized this suddenly. It was cool that night and I had suddenly become very aware that I was in a thin tank top and short shorts. I'd been dressed for bed when we'd started arguing. When the fight had began, when he'd grabbed me, one of the straps on my shirt had snapped.

"Jules, you've got yourself into a hell of a predicament now."

I winced as I ran my hand over my face. It was something I'd picked up somewhere along the way. When I was nervous, I would run my hand over my face. It had never hurt quite this much before.

A car whipped past me, causing me to jump into the ditch. I needed a ride, but the way I was dressed was no way to be picked up. It scared me just to think about what could happen to me.

Contrary to popular belief, it's not safe to walk down the road in your night things in Canada. No safer here than it is anywhere else.

Actually worse, because here you have the added threat of being eaten by coyotes or wolves.

Another car. Another dilemma. Beg for a ride and take my chances or hide and take my chances. I stuck out my thumb.

The car was full of teenaged boys. They wolf-whistled at me and called awful things at me, but kept on driving. I didn't mind that part. I kept walking.

After I'd walked for a while, I glanced at my watch. I hadn't seen a car since that one with the boys. It was five to midnight. I knew Noah couldn't be too far behind me, even if I had already been walking for close to twenty minutes. Although he had hit his head hard when I'd pushed him away from me.

Three to midnight. Close to the witching hour. The time when all the ghoulies and ghosties came out to play.

Magic has always fascinated me. I devour books about wizards and witches and goblins and elves and anything that doesn't belong in this world. My grandmother always told me that my first word was unicorn. Every year on my birthday, from the year I was born until the year she died, my grandmother had bought me a stuffed unicorn. It killed me to think about what Noah might do to my unicorns. Anything else I didn't care about, but my unicorns were the last thing I had from my grandmother. They were precious to me and he knew it.

Two minutes to midnight. Even as a girl I'd been slightly afraid of midnight. It was a tween, when everything that lurked unseen came out to play. Everything you ever dreamt about in the space between sleep and awake. Everything from that tween came out to play at midnight.

The witching hour.

I could hear them, just beyond my imagination. I knew they were there, waiting for midnight. Waiting for me.

"Somebody please help me." I hated the pleading tone in my voice. I hated being weak. All my life I had prided myself on being strong. Since my parents had left me with my grandmother. They'd never wanted me, but my grandmother never made me feel unloved. I had everything I had ever needed with my Nannie. 

One minute to midnight. Two things happened at once. Headlights appeared in the distance. As they rounded the bend, they illuminated a figure stalking up the grass. 

Noah.

He hadn't seen me yet. He was screaming at the top of his voice, I could hear him even though he was at least three miles behind me still. I stifled a sob and picked up my pace again.

The car drew closer. Soon the lights would show me and both Noah and the driver would see me. I had no choice. Take my chances with the car or with Noah. Either way, I would probably die.

I jumped in front of the car as it sped toward me. There was a sound of squealing tires as the driver slammed on his brakes. 

"Jules!" Noah yelled. "You bitch! Get your fat ass back here!"

"Help me," I pleaded as the driver started to open his door. "Please, please, I need a ride. Please help me."

He stared at me, right in my eyes. Noah continued to scream, threatening me, calling me awful things. 

"Please."

The stranger nodded and unlocked the doors. I heard a gunshot as I dove into the backseat. Without a word, the stranger drove off.


	2. On the Run

Harry Potter and his whole world belong to JK Rowling. I am borrowing them and writing what I hope might happen in future books

****

On the Run

The car was warm, which was nice after the chill of the evening. I curled up against the door, remembering after a while to put my seatbelt on. Noah had missed me with the gun. I was free. For now. My teeth began to chatter.

The man said nothing, but I saw him glance in the mirror. I saw as he reached to turn up the heat.

"No, it's alright," I said softly. "I'm okay."

Still he didn't say anything. I was thankful for that.

Finally my teeth stopped chattering. I found myself watching his profile.

He was handsome; I could tell that even in the dark. His hair was short and looked like it was a light colour. His nose was neither big or small, but perfectly proportioned and perfectly straight. He had a strong jaw line. I could tell that he was powerfully built, if a little on the slight side. He wore an overcoat. I swallowed nervously.

Before I'd met Noah, this man would have sent my pulse racing. Now all he did was make my blood run cold and my pulse quicken in fear.

Noah was also handsome, but Noah had a wicked temper. I'd been on the receiving end of Noah's temper one too many times.

"Where to?" When the man finally spoke, I nearly jumped out of my skin. He had a beautiful voice, a sleepy sort of voice that made you want to trust him, no matter what.

"As far as you want to take me," I answered honestly. He nodded.

"I thought as much."

I realized suddenly that he was British. I wondered why I hadn't picked that up right away. I must not have been paying attention.

I've always had a weakness for accents, especially United Kingdom accents. They make my insides melt.

__

Why couldn't I have met you a year ago? I thought to myself.

I saw him glance in the mirror. He smiled reassuringly. I wondered if he was watching me as I'd been watching him. The thought made me long for a jacket or something to cover myself with.

"I know you're afraid," he said softly. I looked at him in his mirror. His eyes met mine. "I won't hurt you."

I didn't say anything. I looked down at my hands. My left hand was starting to swell and my right hand was starting to clot. Good. It had been bleeding badly.

"My name is Remus."

I looked up again. He was looking at the road again.

"That's an odd name," I said quietly. I could have slapped myself for saying it out loud. 

He chuckled. "I know."

I nodded. I looked at my hands once more and realized that something had scratched me as I'd run away from Noah. My legs had fine little scratches all over them and were bleeding a little.

I just looked wonderful.

"My name's Julianne."

*

We rode in silence for a while. Remus didn't ask, and I wasn't telling. It was bad enough that he would assume. I didn't want pity from this stranger.

I could take care of myself.

But all the same, I wished I had some clothes.

I had drifted into fitful slumber when Remus pulled the car over into a little doughnut/coffee shop that are frequently found on the highway. He drove around back and stopped the car.

"Would you like to use the washroom and maybe wash up a little?" he asked gently as he opened one of the back doors. I nodded and slipped out. The air was chilly for August, even if it was nearing the end of the month. But then it had been raining for the last few days. I wrapped my arms around myself and walked through the back door. The washrooms were directly to my right. I started toward them.

"Hold on a moment," Remus said quietly. He held something before him. "I thought you might like these."

I took the bundle. I thanked him and entered the washrooms.

I gasped as I looked in the mirror. My left eye was completely red and I knew it would start to turn black soon. There were scratches and scrapes all over the right side of my face, from my jaw line up into my hair. My lower lip was swollen terribly. I remembered biting it when Noah had pushed me down the stairs.

"God, Noah. I hate you so much," I whispered as I sank down to the floor, my back against the washroom stall. I buried my face into the soft bundle Remus had given me and started to cry.

After sitting there for a few moments, I realized that Remus was probably waiting for me. I got up and washed myself as well as I could. I was covered in scrapes and cuts and I knew I would ache in the morning. 

I unfurled the soft grey bundle and found that it was a large cotton sweater and grey cotton sweatpants. I quickly slipped them over my pyjamas. They smelled clean and brand new, yet they felt like they'd been around for years and were somebody's favourite clothes. I bent to lace up my sneakers, which hadn't been laced the whole time I had run from Noah. I was lucky that I hadn't tripped on them.

I looked in the mirror once more. I sighed at the ugly red mark around my eye and the cuts on my face. I used some water and smoothed my hair back into its usual pony tail. There. I definitely wouldn't win any modelling contests tonight, but at least I was a bit more presentable.

I left the washroom. Remus was sitting at one of the small tables, staring off into space.

He had hair the colour of straw and his eyes were the most beautiful colour I'd ever seen. They were a slate grey colour, but with deeper colours running through them. Blue and green. I shook myself to keep from staring.

Close to, I could see that he looked tired and strained. Of course, I didn't know where he had come from or where he was going to. He could have been driving for days.

"Can I buy you a coffee?" he asked, snapping me out of my reverie. 

I bit my lip, and then regretted it. I winced as a stab of pain shot through it.

Coffee would be okay. I could accept coffee from him.

"Okay," I said hesitantly. "Thank you."  
He smiled and pulled a wallet out of his pocket. His clothes looked well worn and perhaps a little threadbare. I found myself wondering if the car was a rental. Where had he gotten the clothes he'd given me then?

I went with him to the counter. He ordered two large coffees for us and then he started ordering all sorts of food. I couldn't help but stare at him.

"A person's got to eat, haven't they?" he asked innocently, glancing down at my shocked face. He smirked. "What can I get you to eat?"

"Oh, no I'm okay."

"I doubt that, but I probably can't help you in that regard. I can at least buy you something to eat."

His eyes were so kind and showed no traces of pity. I ordered soup and a sandwich and a doughnut for desert.

We ate in silence. It wasn't awkward at all. I found myself starting to relax around him.

He watched me as I gingerly ate my doughnut, trying not to move my swollen lip too much. A frown creased his forehead. I could see him struggling with himself, wanting to say something, but wanting to be polite and not prying. The silence started to get awkward. I tried to find a safe subject.

"Do you live here?" I asked abruptly.

He shook his head. "No, I live in Britain. I'm here on business, I suppose you could say."

"What sort of business?" I bit my tongue lightly. "I'm sorry, that was rude."

"No, it's alright. I don't mind. I'm here with the Ministry. Sort of a research project."

"You're a politician?"

He laughed at that. "No, I'm a professor at a…special school."

I wondered at his hesitation before saying the word special, but decided to overlook it.

"I've always been good at research though, and I know the Minister well. He assigned me to come here."

"What are you researching?"

__

Damn, I thought. _You really need to put a muzzle on your stupid mouth!_

He smiled at me. "I'm afraid I'm not at liberty to say."

I nodded, looking down at my plate. I wiped my mouth gingerly. He shifted in his chair. I looked up at him. His eyes were stormy and he looked angry.

"Does that happen often?" he demanded, just as abrupt as I had been.

I looked back down. I didn't want him to think me weak, I didn't need his pity. I wasn't some poor stupid damsel who needed saving.

"Julianne?"

I enjoyed hearing my name in his voice. It had been a long time since Noah had said my full name, and he definitely hadn't said it in that caring tone when he did say it.

"It's happened a couple times before. The first time, I told him that if it happened again, I was gone. The second time…I'm still not sure if it was intentional. We were playing football, and I'd grabbed the ball from him and he punched me in the mouth. But it might have been an accident. He apologized right away.

"It never happened this bad before." 

I didn't look up at him as I said all this. It didn't matter what Remus thought of me, really. But it was nice to have somebody care.

Remus was silent for a while. He drank his coffee. I stole a glance at him and found him staring out the window, watching the headlights go by. He looked as though he was thinking hard about something.

"I'm going to rent a room for the night," he said suddenly. I looked at him and he looked at me. "There's a motel next door; I noticed it when we pulled in. I need to sleep."  
I said nothing, merely waited for him to finish.

He looked down at his hands, which were clamped tightly around his coffee cup. He slowly relaxed them, and then spoke once more.

"You are welcome to stay with me, if you wish."

I stared at him. I couldn't help myself. He was a complete stranger and he was offering me a place to stay because I had none.

There had to be a catch.

"I can't…" I started. I paused. "What's the catch?"

He smiled, but I saw his eyes grow hard. Oh great, I'd insulted him.

"No catch," he said quietly. "I want nothing at all. I know you're stuck and I'm offering you a place to stay. That's all."

I bit my lip. His eyes glanced down to my mouth as I winced. His eyes grew stormy once more.

"What do you say?"

I nodded slightly. 

"Okay," I answered.

And such was my predicament that I agreed to stay in a motel room with a complete stranger.

*

It wasn't an overly impressive place, but at least it was clean and free of insects. Remus let me inside and then went back to speak with the night clerk. There were two beds, thank goodness, and a bathroom. I sat on the closest bed and looked around.

I wondered if Remus would mind if I used the phone to phone my aunt and uncle. They would be phoning in the next couple days, as we always spoke at least once a week. They would wonder about my whereabouts. 

I decided to ask later, once I'd gotten some sleep.

I lay there for a while, waiting for Remus. My eyes were starting to burn with tiredness.

Remus entered as I had just closed my eyes. The door banged open and he entered, carrying a couple suitcases. I jumped up to help.

"No," he grunted, tossing the suitcases on the other bed. "You get some rest. Check out is 11 and I wish to be gone before then. Will it bother you if I make a quick phone call?"

I shook my head and lay back down on the bed.

Remus glanced at his watch.

"8:30. A bit early, but they'll be up," he muttered to himself.

I glanced at the clock on the table. It read 1:30 am. I realized that he was calling England.

He sat on the other bed and punched in a number. I turned my back and tried not to listen.

"Molly. Hi."

Who was Molly? His wife?

"No, I'm here. I got here yesterday morning and I've been driving east ever since. No. No.

Uh-uh. Why?"

I smiled to myself. I knew it was rude to listen, but really there was nothing I could do about it.

"No, I had a…setback. Yes. No. I'll handle it, Molly, calm down. No, nothing like that. No. A…young lady. Molly, Molly, calm down!"

Definitely his wife.

Remus laughed. "Quite. No, she jumped in front of the car. Yes. Yes. She is. No, she's right here, trying not to listen."

I felt my cheeks burn with embarrassment. I glanced over at him. He grinned and winked at me.

"Molly! Uh-huh. No I am not. No, no trace of anything yet. Is Arthur still around, Molly?"

Arthur? Maybe she wasn't his wife.

"Morning, Arthur. Sorry to phone so early. No, it's just early here. 1:30. Well, because this is the first chance I've had. No. Nothing yet, Arthur. Don't worry, I'll find it."

Remus laughed again. I found that I enjoyed his laugh.

"You've got him there? Good, I hated leaving him in that wretched place for so long. Really? He's awake already? Did he go for his…um…license? Okay, I'll ask him when you put him on.

"No. Muggle."

What on earth did Muggle mean?

"Have you talked to Albus yet? Uh-huh. No, I won't be gone for that long. He can take my classes for now, and I'm sure that Severus would be only too happy to teach them as well. The kids will enjoy that."

Albus? Severus? Such names! Remus' voice was also dripping with sarcasm when he said the kids would enjoy having this Severus teach them.

"When? No, it was last week, remember? On Monday. The next one is September 16th. I should be home by then. No. No, Arthur, I'll be fine. Well, I'm sure there are places I can go here if I'm not home by then, so don't worry. Plus, you know I can be there in a snap. Okay, I'll talk to you later Arthur. Yes, please put him on."

How many people was he going to talk to?

"Hey Harry! How are you? Well thank you. I miss you as well. No, I'm in Canada. I'll be back as soon as I can. I know you want to come. No. No, Harry, you can't do that just yet. But that answers one of my questions! Congratulations! Your dad passed with flying colours too.

"How about Ron and Hermione? Did they pass?"  
Driver's licenses?

Remus chuckled. "Oh, she can't get hers until next month. Right, I'd forgotten that! No doubt, no doubt. I don't know if I've ever seen her with out a book. Really! Head girl! That's fantastic. There wasn't really any doubt. Who was named Head Boy?"

Remus was silent for a moment.

"That's great, Harry. Yes, James was Head Boy too." I could hear the smile on Remus' face. "I'm very proud of you."

He was silent again.

"Have you spoken to him? I'm assuming he's still…in hospital."

That didn't sound good.

"He'll be alright Harry. It's just a shock, is all. No. Yes, we can go visit him at Christmas. I'm sure he'll be home by then though. Well, maybe if you talk to Professor Dumbledore, you can go visit him on a weekend. Of course.

"Well, there wasn't a lot of improvement from the day before, Harry. He still recognized me. He asked where you were. He mentioned your pretty red headed friend."

Remus laughed.

"If I'm back before the first, we can go. I promise.

"It's your last year. Are you excited? I know. Yes, a Muggle."

There was that weird word again.

"Absolutely. No, Harry." He laughed. "Yes, they are. Now that's no way to talk."

It sounded like Harry was young, maybe a teenager. Probably around seventeen or eighteen, because it sounded like he was entering his last year of school. Now, was he one of Remus' students? Or something else? A son? No, Remus didn't speak to him like a son. Maybe a nephew.

"Don't even think about it. No, Harry. I know she did. I know. _I know_. Yes you will. I know you have to. Harry. Sirius told you not to do anything stupid. Yes it would be. He does so, Harry. 

"Harry, I know," Remus sighed. "No. I know Hagrid's gone. I know. Calm down, Harry. Harry, stop this right now. You have to focus on getting through your last year of school. Then you can do whatever you please."

Remus was quiet. He sighed.

"Yes, I've got it. Yes, you may. Whenever you like. No. No, Sirius and Dumbledore. That's it. Well, no, he probably won't use it. Not yet, at least.

"No, it's passed. The 16th. Probably. Dumbledore or Snape. I know, I know. I'm sorry."

I started to drift off to sleep at this point. Remus' voice was soft and soothing and it was hard to stay awake anymore. I needed to rest.

I gasped and sat up when he hung up the phone a few minutes later. I held my hands out as if to protect myself. I stared at Remus in bewilderment.

"It's okay," he said quietly. He sat on the edge of my bed and took my hands in his. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to startle you. The darn thing slipped out of my hand as I was setting it down."

I could feel my cheeks heating up. I dropped my gaze and nodded.

Remus chuckled.

"Don't be embarrassed. It's alright, really." He lifted my hand to his lips and kissed it softly. I stared at him.

"Was that your family that you were talking to?" I blurted, trying to cover up my embarrassment. I only succeeded in embarrassing myself more.

"Friends. Well…you heard me talking to Harry?"  
I nodded.

"Well, I'm his guardian. He is the son of one of my best friends."

Remus sighed as I moved over to let him get more comfortable.

"He's amazing. He's the most incredible person I've ever known."

I smiled.

"How old is he?"  
"He turned 17 on July 31st. He's going into his last year of school. He's quite upset with me that I won't be there to teach him for the first little bit."

"How come you're his guardian?"

Remus regarded me silently for a moment.

"Harry's parents were murdered when Harry was a year old. Since that time he has lived with his mother's sister and her family. His parents named another of our friends godfather, but he was sent to prison for their murder. It was found out later that he was innocent and had been set up.

"We thought Harry's godfather died two years ago, but he didn't. It turned out that he was a prisoner of war. We got him back last month, but he's very badly injured. He's been in hospital ever since."  
"The night we found Sirius, we lost Hagrid, a professor at the school where I teach and one of Harry's closest friends."

I sat there and stared at Remus, my mouth hanging open. I was crying and hadn't even realized that I'd started.

"That poor child." It was all I could say. It made my problems with Noah seem tiny in comparison to what this person who was not yet an adult had gone through. 

"His parents, James and Lily, and his godfather Sirius, were my best friends at school. I was there when Harry was born and it killed me to be away from him for so long. I knew that his wretched relatives didn't want him. They're awful people."

I could tell that Remus wasn't one to criticize people for no reason. Some part of me just knew. I found myself disliking these people who I'd never met.

"Harry has to go back to his aunt and uncle's at the start of every summer because they are listed as his legal guardians. Once school is finished, now that he's an adult, he will be coming to stay with me."  
Remus' face broke into an easy smile. I could tell that he couldn't wait. I smiled too.

"If Harry is half the person you are, Remus, he's doing well."  
I blushed wildly when I said that. I hadn't meant to voice it.

Remus blushed as well. He looked down at his hands, which still held mine.

"I'm just doing what any decent person would."

"No you're not. A decent person would have picked me up back there, but they would have taken me to a police station or something. They wouldn't have given me clothes, bought me food and given me shelter. I owe you, Remus. Probably my life."  
He was still blushing and looking at our hands. Impulsively I leaned in and kissed him quickly. 

"Thank you, Remus."

*

I woke around 9 feeling very refreshed, considering we'd both gone to bed late and considering I'd had an awful nightmare. I'd screamed so loud in my dream that I'd woken myself. Remus had been at my side in an instant. I was embarrassed now because I'd sobbed into his shoulder for close to ten minutes. He finally had to lay down beside me to calm me down.

He was still there. I gaped at his sleeping form for a moment and then slipped out of the bed. I nearly ran to the bathroom.

I closed the door quietly behind me and leaned against the sink. I ached all over from Noah's treatment of me, and now I felt ashamed of my behaviour with Remus.

Nothing had happened, really. I'd slipped my hands out of his after I'd kissed him and then got under the covers on my bed. He'd sat on my bed for a few minutes and we discussed Harry a bit more. Then he'd gone to his own bed.

Even after he'd joined me in my bed, nothing had happened. I'd cried into his chest for a few minutes, and then I'd gone right back to sleep.

So why did I feel so guilty?

I had a quick shower, which made my aches feel a little better and completely woke me up. Feeling relatively human once more, I went back through the bathroom door into the main room.

And stopped dead in my tracks.

Remus stood in front of me. And he was wearing nothing more than a pair of boxers.


	3. Beautiful Country

Harry Potter and his whole world belong to JK Rowling. I am borrowing a few characters from her J This is set in 7th year, Harry is of age. However, don't forget that this is a romance!!

****

Beautiful Country

"Oh, I'm sorry, Julianne. I was just going to knock to find out how long you would be. Are you hungry?"

It took everything I possessed not to look down at the rest of his body, but I managed it. I maintained eye contact. 

Speaking, however, was another matter completely.

"Um. I…I-"

__

Say something, you idiot! 

"Okay."

Remus grinned. 

"Okay you're hungry?"

I nodded. Sounded good to me.

Remus chuckled as he picked up the phone to order some breakfast. With his back to me, it gave me a chance to get control of myself. 

"It'll be about ten minutes. I'm going to shower and all that, so could you answer the door when it's here?"

He turned those gorgeous eyes on me and I found myself turned to mush brain once again.

"Yep."

He gave me an appraising look and swept past me into the bathroom. I flopped down on the bed, berating myself for that wonderful display of my conversational skills.

Remus was out of the bathroom before the food arrived, so he answered the door. I sat up quickly. It smelled incredible.

As we ate, Remus said that he planned to drive north for a while today.

"Where, exactly, are you going?" I asked, struggling to keep as much dignity as I could when I had a mouthful of egg and toast.

He grinned. "Harry's friend Ron would like you." He frowned. "I really don't know where I'm going. I go on instinct. When my instincts tell me to stop, I stop. Yesterday they told me to get a car and go east. So I did."

"So you have no actual destination. And no time limit."

He shook his head.

"Sounds good to me."

We left not long after. I sat up front with Remus and we chatted like we were old friends. He was very easy to talk to. He had a wide range of interests. There were no lulls in the conversation for hours. 

We pulled into a roadside diner around 4 in the afternoon for dinner. I excused myself to the washroom while Remus chose a table.

I checked in the mirror as soon as I walked in. My eye was black and swollen, but at least the swelling in my lip and the rest of my face had gone down. I still looked horrible, but I didn't ache anymore. 

As soon as I joined Remus, he excused himself to use the washroom. The waitress came by for my drink order. She stared at my bruises for a moment before clearing her throat uncomfortably. 

"Okay. Diet Coke for you and your husband ordered tea."

My eyes widened. "Oh, no, he's not my husband," I corrected her quickly. She raised an eyebrow at me. I smiled at her. "He's my white knight, not my husband."

She shrugged and walked away, returning a moment later with my drink. I smiled down at the menu while I waited for Remus to rejoin me.

"What's funny?" 

I grinned up at him. "The waitress thinks you're my husband."

He smiled. "You told her that I'm not half that lucky, right?"

I choked on my diet Coke.

"Not hardly!" I gasped. "More like I'm not that lucky. I told her that you're my white knight."

He chuckled. "Remus Lupin, white knight. If only Severus Snape could hear that!"

I giggled. He'd explained Severus Snape to me last night. He was a professor at the school where Remus taught. He and Remus had known, and disliked, each other since they were students at the same school.

"So your last name is Lupin?" I asked. He nodded and took a sip of his tea.

"Wow, that's not bad at all. I'm surprised, really."

"About what?" 

"The tea being drinkable." He laughed. "I suppose I assumed that the tea here would be as bad as the tea down in the United States. It's much too weak."

I chuckled. 

"You've travelled to North America before then?"

He grinned at me. "Sure have, but only a couple times. This is my first time in Western Canada. I've been to Ottawa, but that's it. It's lovely here."

"I like it," I answered truthfully. "But I'm biased, I suppose."  
"Probably the same way I am about England."

The waitress returned to take our order. I noticed that her attitude toward Remus was much different than it was toward me. Now that she knew I wasn't his wife, she made no attempt to hide the fact she found him attractive.

As she walked away, I snorted into my drink. Remus turned twinkling eyes on me.

"Women here are a bit more aggressive than they are back home."

"Not all," I answered, laughing slightly. I couldn't really figure out the annoyed feeling I had.

"Well, no. Not all. You're not like that, I've noticed."

I laughed again. "How would you know? I might be like that when my eye isn't swollen shut and my face sticking out from here to Montreal."

He frowned suddenly. I wished automatically that I could retract my last sentence.

"I was kidding," I said quickly.

"I know," he answered quietly. He took my hand in his. "You shouldn't have to, is all."

"Well, that's me. I joke about things."

I quickly slipped my hand out of his. The waitress noticed our joined hands and shot me a filthy look.

We ate quickly and were back on the road within an hour. Again, we made small talk. Remus was telling me stories of some of his students and had me in fits of giggles.

"He's a good kid though," he was saying. "A little scatterbrained. He's grown up with his grandmother. I'm not sure what happened to his parents. His grandmother scares me, I couldn't imagine living with her."  
I laughed again, picturing Remus quivering in fear in front of my Nannie. She'd never been taller than 5 foot 2 and Remus had to be at least 6 feet. It was an amusing image.

"So where are your instincts telling you to go?" I asked in a teasing matter.

He glanced at me, and then quickly turned back to the road.

"Nowhere, actually. They've basically been dormant since we left the motel."

I grinned at him. "Maybe I'm what you're searching for."

He chuckled. "No offence, but I sure hope not."

*

I went into the hotel lobby with Remus this time. The man behind the counter stared at me before turning his attention back to Remus.

I sighed irritably. I was tired of people gaping at me like I was an alien. Just another reason to be angry with Noah.

"I'm afraid we only have single occupancy rooms left," the desk clerk was explaining patiently. "One bed."

Remus glanced at me. I stared up at him.

"We can go elsewhere," he said softly.

I bit my sore lip. "No, it's alright. I can sleep on the floor or something. Do you have a sofa in the room? Or can we get a cot?"

The man chuckled. "No, only chairs. And I'm afraid we haven't got any cots available either."

"There's no way in hell you're sleeping on the floor," Remus declared, glaring down at me. "We can go elsewhere."

I shook my head. "There's nothing else for an hour. You're exhausted, Remus. I can't drive because I've only got one eye and no ID on me anyway." I swallowed. "We can share the bed."

Remus paid the man who was smiling sheepishly. He apologized over and over to Remus, who told him not to worry about it.

"I'll sleep on the floor," I offered again. "Or in one of the chairs."

Remus growled. "No. If anyone's sleeping on the floor, it will be me." 

We got to the room. Remus couldn't get the card key to work, so I took it from him and unlocked the door.

I gaped as we entered. The bed wasn't very big at all.

"Shit." I turned. Remus flushed slightly. "My apologies. I just realized that I forgot my razor at the last place we stayed at."  
"The man at the desk said that he had extra toiletries and things…maybe he'll have something?"

Remus nodded. "Do you want me to get you anything?"  
"Toothpaste and a toothbrush," I answered immediately. "Maybe some deodorant if they have some. I don't care what it is, but I smell bad."

Remus laughed. "I think you smell wonderful."  
I blushed. He did as well.

"I'm going to have a shower if you don't mind," I said quickly. He pretended to leer at me. I laughed and gave him a little shove.

"I'll take my time then. Give you your privacy."

I nodded as he left.

I showered quickly. I rinsed my under things in the sink and found myself wondering what on earth I could do with them. I couldn't just hang them somewhere for Remus to find.

I decided to hang them in the closet with the sweater I'd been wearing.

I grabbed a towel that was just barely big enough to cover me. I opened the door and peeked out. 

"Remus?" I called softly. No answer. I slipped out the door and ran toward the closet. I had just hanged the hanger back up when the door opened.

I didn't have the sense to jump into the closet. I just stood there, dripping. 

At least I'd had the sense to cover myself with the towel before leaving the bathroom. Not that it covered much.

Remus didn't see me at first. He glanced around the room before doing a double take. He turned his eyes back on me and stared.

"I'm sorry!" he stammered. But he didn't exit.

"It's my fault!" I squeaked embarrassedly. "I wanted to hang up your sweater and things and…" I glanced into the closet. A robe hung there. "And grab this robe! You weren't back yet, so I thought I'd be quick."

He nodded, still gaping at me. I swallowed nervously, trying to get the robe off of the hanger.

"Damn thing won't come off," I said quickly. Remus realized suddenly that he was staring and closed his mouth with a snap. He came toward me slowly. I squeaked again and backed away.

"I'm not going to hurt you," he said irritably. "I'm just getting the robe for you."

He held it out for me. I stared at the floor, too embarrassed to look at him.

"Thank you."

I was still stuck, however. Remus was blocking my way to the bathroom, probably without realizing it. I couldn't put the robe on without letting go of the towel. However, my hands were the only thing holding the towel together. I couldn't manage the robe and hold the towel together at the same time.

Damn it.

I was going to have to look at him after all.

I looked up at Remus, meaning to ask him to move aside. He was looking down at me. My eyes locked with his. His eyes darkened. I drew in a shaky breath.

"Remus, I - "

He shook his head, placing a finger on my lips. Very slowly, he leaned down.

His lips brushed lightly against mine. I gasped as a jolt of electricity shot down my spine. I clung to my towel, trying to keep my wits about me.

Remus kissed me gently, aware of my cuts and bruises. His lips were soft on mine. My lips parted slightly, seemingly of their own accord. Remus took advantage of the invitation.

My whole body responded to his kiss. It made me ache inside; made my body desperate to be closer to him. 

I forgot about my towel as I slid my hands up his chest and up into his hair. Only when it started to fall did I get my senses back.

"No," I said, tearing my mouth from his and backing away. I held the robe up in front of me so he couldn't see my naked body. "I can't, Remus. It's too soon."

His hair was standing on end from having my fingers dragged through it. He took a deep breath and nodded. 

"I'm sorry," he said raggedly. "I didn't mean…"

"No, I know. It's alright."

He nodded again. 

"Did I hurt you?"

I stared at him, not understanding. I'd never had a reaction like that when Noah had kissed me. Hurt me? No, he hadn't hurt me. He'd nearly sent me soaring.

Then I realized what he meant. My lip was still healing.

I ran my tongue over it lightly, checking for blood. Remus' eyes darkened again. I backed away, holding my hand up without really meaning to.

"No. You didn't hurt me."

He continued to study me. Then he nodded and turned away, allowing me to scurry back into the washroom.

Once inside, I collapsed against the wall. 

"What the hell were you thinking, Jules?" I whispered aloud to myself.

Oh damn. I still had to share the bed with him.

I dressed quickly, cursing myself as an idiot the whole while. I drew a deep, steadying breath before moving back out into the main room.

Remus was still there, but he had taken the top blanket off the bed. He was just setting it on the floor when he heard the door open.

"What are you doing?" I asked before I could muzzle myself.

He smiled crookedly. "Well, I thought it might be…safer…to sleep on the floor."  
I stared at him, a smile playing at my lips.

"Don't trust yourself around me?"

He coughed, maybe to hide a laugh. 

"Not entirely."

*

For the first time since I'd met Remus, I felt awkward around him. I slipped into the bathroom very early to dress. By the time Remus was awake, I was dressed and had made a pot of coffee. I'd also brushed my teeth for the first time in two days, which had been heavenly.

"Morning," Remus said softly as he passed me.

"Morning," I replied cheerfully. There was no way that I was going to let him notice how awkward I felt!

While I waited for him, I flipped the television on. Nothing interested me, so I amused myself by flipping channels. I paused on a music station.

"Oh, country music," Remus said with a smirk as he came out of the washroom. "That stuff is…I don't know what it is."

I raised an eyebrow at him.

"Music is music, Mr Lupin," I said acidly.

He continued to smirk, so I hit him with my pillow. He laughed and grabbed it from me. He hit me back, but I noticed that he was careful not to hit me anywhere where I was bruised.

A short, furious pillow fight ensued. I grabbed the pillow from him and stuffed it under me, laughing at him.

"Now what are you going to do?" I taunted, a victorious grin on my face.

He responded by leaping on the bed. He grinned down at me and then picked me clear up off the mattress.

"That's not fair!" I shrieked, giggling like a crazy woman. "Using strength against me." I pushed his chest lightly and stuck out my bottom lip.

He laughed. "You asked what I was going to do. I answered." I noticed him glance hungrily at my mouth. I quickly pulled my bottom lip back in. "My question now is, what are _you_ going to do?"

I glared at him. "You sort of have me at a disadvantage."

He laughed again. He was killing me with that wonderful laugh.

"I could do this though," I said, pulling his head forward suddenly so that his lips were against mine. He gasped and nearly dropped me, but I slipped my arms around his neck and kissed him. 

I couldn't imagine why just kissing Remus had such an effect on me. All I could think about when Noah kissed me was how much he was slobbering all over me. 

Remus didn't have a slobbering problem. He was a wonderful kisser.

I didn't notice him step off the bed. When he started to lower me to the mattress, I opened my eyes, looking up at him. He put me down and stepped back. He was breathing heavily, but looked to be in complete control of himself. I wished I could say the same about myself!

He cleared his throat.

"As much as I would love to continue that," he said shakily, his cheeks flushed, "we have to get on the road again. Check out is in less than an hour and we haven't eaten."

"I'm not hungry for food," I pouted. 

A slow smile spread across Remus' face, accompanied by a deep scarlet shade across his cheekbones. I found that I enjoyed making him blush like that.

"Nevertheless," he said, his voice hoarse. "You have to eat."

I nodded and stood. He took my hand in his, picked up his bags in his other hand, and we walked down for breakfast.

*

I stood with Remus as he checked us out of the hotel. The swelling in my eye had started to go down somewhat, but it was still as black as ever. I was still getting stared at like I was an alien.

"Oh, Mr Lupin," the lady at the desk said as she swiped his credit card. "That reminds me. There was a young lady here, asking about you earlier. You had that you weren't to be disturbed here, so I didn't call up. She said she would see you later."

Remus stared at her, his eyes confused. He realized he was staring and thanked her. He took hold of my arm and steered me away from the desk.

"A young lady? Who on earth could that be? Nobody knows we're here."

I chuckled.

"Nobody dangerous, I'm sure, Remus."

His serious grey eyes locked on to mine. I felt my smile falter a little.

"It could be someone dangerous?" I felt fear start to well up inside me once more.

"I told you that I'm here for the Minister. Of course it could be someone dangerous."

I swallowed nervously, swiping my hand over my face.

"Why don't you go ask her what the woman looked like?"

"There's no need to do that, Remus," a voice said from behind us. It sounded highly amused. "I assure you, I'm not going to harm you."

I could read relief in Remus' eyes. Then they turned hard and stormy.

"Hermione Granger, what on earth are you doing here?" he demanded, turning to the woman who had spoken.

I turned too and found a very pretty woman standing behind us. No, not woman. A girl. She couldn't be more than seventeen. She stared at me, a smile on her face.

"Remus didn't introduce us," she said to me, ignoring Remus completely. "I'm Hermione Granger, as Remus has already said. I'm a friend of Harry's and one of Remus' students."

I stared at her a moment before realizing I was being rude. I blinked and took the hand she offered.

"Julianne Wallace," I said to her. "Remus rescued me two nights ago."

Concern flickered in this young woman's eyes. She glanced at my black eye.

"Rescued?"

"From her boyfriend," Remus answered, turning the attention back to himself. "Now that that's clear, what are you doing here, Hermione?"

"I brought her," a second voice said. All three of us turned quickly. Both Remus and Hermione had their hands in their pockets for some reason.

Before us stood a handsome man. He was about the same age as Hermione, and not much taller. He had jet black hair that stuck in every direction, round glasses and gorgeous green eyes that shone out of their sockets like beacons. On his forehead was a very thin scar shaped like a bolt of lightning.

Remus stared at him, his mouth open.

"How?" he demanded.

The younger man glanced at me. He turned his eyes back to Remus, a question in his eyes. Remus shook his head slightly.

Now what was that about?

"Piggyback?" Remus said. The younger man inclined his head slightly. Remus' eyes became stormy once more. "Already? It's been two weeks, Harry!"

So this was Harry!

Harry smiled sheepishly.

"I had to tell you in person," he said, his voice subdued. "I needed Hermione's help, because she knew how to find you."

Hermione smiled up at Remus. He gave her a grudging smile back, but I could see pride in his eyes.

"Tell him, Harry!" Hermione said, her voice just as subdued.

"Tell me what?" Remus asked quickly. "Have we-?"

"No, nothing like that," Harry said, just as quickly. "It's Sirius."

Remus let go of my arm suddenly. His arms went slack at his sides.

"Don't tell me he's worsened."

Hermione suddenly gripped Remus' arm. Her eyes were sparkling with excitement and tears.

"No!" she said, the excitement evident in her voice. 

"He's getting better," Harry said, his eyes practically glowing. "The healers figure he'll be out by Halloween!"

I gasped and turned to Remus.

"That's your friend, right?" 

"Yes," Remus answered me, his face pale and happy at the same time. 

"Oh Remus, that's fantastic!" I cried, hugging him quickly.

"Yes it is," he said quietly. He slipped his fingers through mine as he beamed at Harry and Hermione. "Oh, I'm sorry. Harry, this is Julianne. Julianne, this is Harry."

Harry smiled at me and shook my hand. 

"All this good news," Remus said, his eyes shining. "Would you two care for some breakfast?"

"We sure would!" Harry answered. "I'm absolutely starving."

"I can't believe you flew all the way over here," I said absently. Harry glanced at Remus.

"Well, it was good news," Harry said. "Plus, I wanted to see Remus. And ask him in person to come back in time for school to start."

I smiled at Remus as we sat at a booth in the hotel restaurant. 

"You must be an excellent teacher," I told him.

He blushed and opened his mouth to reply.

"He is," Hermione said enthusiastically. "He's the best we've ever had."

"Well, it's easy to be a good teacher when I've got good students," Remus retorted. "Julianne, did I tell you that we have the Head Boy and Head Girl of my school sitting here with us?"

"Well, cool!" I said. Damn, I was going to have to show my ignorance. "What's that?"

"Ah, sorry. I assumed you'd have that here as well." He smiled kindly at me. "Harry and Hermione are the best students in the school for their year."

"Oh, that _is_ incredible!" I said, turning to the younger two. Both looked exceptionally pleased with themselves. "Congratulations!"

They thanked me warmly. We sat and chatted a bit longer, waiting for our breakfast. I found my eyes drawn to the thin scar on Harry's forehead, but chose not to say anything about it. What if he was sensitive about it?

It was nice, sitting here, just listening to the three of them talk. If I closed my eyes, I could pretend I was on some adventure over in Great Britain.

"Don't go to sleep now," Hermione teased me. "Breakfast is finally coming."

I chuckled. 

I really liked the two of them. It was obvious after a minute or two that the two of them weren't dating. They were incredible friends and had obviously known each other for a while. Both had easygoing demeanours, but I could tell that Harry had a quick temper. Hermione was probably the voice of reason in that duo.

"I'm surprised that Ron and Ginny didn't come with you," Remus was saying. Harry and Hermione glanced at each other. Hermione grinned mischievously. 

"Mrs Weasley said under no uncertain terms were they coming with us to find you. She didn't want us to come either, but Arthur pointed out that we aren't her children. Ron told her that she couldn't stop him coming, as he's of age now, but she told him that he could go live with Percy if he did. So he decided to stay behind."

Harry turned to me, his green eyes sparkling. "Ron is our best friend," he explained, indicating Hermione and himself as he said it. "Mrs Weasley is his mum and Arthur is his dad. Percy's his brother and he's a git."

"Harry!" Hermione admonished.

"Well, he is."

"What's a git?"

Remus chuckled. "It means idiot, basically."

"When…hmm, how to explain." Harry shared a look with Remus that I didn't understand. Hermione put her hand on Harry's arm and leaned toward me.

"Percy didn't agree with his parents' approach to some things. They finally had a big row about it and Percy moved out. Percy is very ambitious, he's actually the first in their family to have real political aspirations, and he didn't like the way Arthur did things and he didn't like some of the things that Arthur believed in. So he left."

"Arthur used to work for our Minister." Remus took up the explanation. "When the Minister went missing last year, Arthur took over, and he's been in that position ever since."

"Your Prime Minister went missing?"

Remus glanced at Harry. Harry nodded.

"Yes," he said. 

"Was he found?"

"Yes."

"Do I want to know?"

"No."

I knew nothing about politics, didn't watch the news or read the papers very often. I hadn't in years. It was much too depressing. I barely knew the name of the Prime Minister in Canada, much less England. I took their word for it.

Harry insisted on paying for breakfast, so Hermione, Remus and I went to wait in the lobby for him.

"How did you two get to this hotel?" he asked Hermione.

"Um," she said, glancing at me. "Taxi."

Remus' eyebrows shot up into his hair.

Have you ever felt like you've walked into the middle of a conversation, even though you've been there the whole time? That was how I felt around Remus, Harry and Hermione. None of them seemed to want to say too much in front of me. They'd glance at me before answering certain questions, as though they didn't want me to hear the answer. It made me wonder.

"You need a ride then?"

Hermione shrugged. "Harry would be the one to ask that."

"When do you go back?"

Again, she shrugged. "We can go now, if you like."

I stared up at Remus. "But that's an awful long flight, just for breakfast," I said to Hermione.

"Jules is right. You can ride with us for a bit. You have nothing else planned while you're here, do you?"

Hermione looked like she longed to say something, but again I got the feeling that she couldn't in front of me. So I excused myself to use the ladies room before we left, to give them a moment of privacy.


	4. Harry and Hermione

Harry Potter and his whole world belong to JK Rowling. I am borrowing a few characters from her J This is set in 7th year, it's from Remus' and a new character POV. Remember, this IS a romance!

Thanks for all the reviews everybody!! I'm glad you're enjoying the story. 

****

Harry and Hermione

Harry and Hermione travelled with us for several days. I enjoyed having them around. They were lively and told wonderful tall tales of dragons and witches and wizards. They did it so seriously that I ached for the stories they told to be true. I knew that they were both authors in the making.

"Hermione, my friend, do you remember the time we confronted the escaped criminal? And were rescued by a werewolf?"

Remus glanced in the mirror, his eyes twinkling. "A werewolf?"

Harry grinned at Remus. "Yes, indeed. He's become a great friend of mine, that werewolf."

I shivered. "Aren't werewolves…well…evil?"

All three of them turned to me. I blinked at the sudden ferocity on Harry's normally smiling face.

"No," he said insistently. "The stories make werewolves evil. I believe, if werewolves actually did exist, they would be just like us. A normal person. Dangerous once a month and harassed their whole life for something they can't control."

I glanced at Remus. He had a soft smile on his lips. I wondered why Harry was so…passionate in his belief that werewolves weren't evil, scary, fictional monsters. But passionate he was. And he made me angry on behalf of the fictional werewolves.

"That's true," I said.

Harry smiled at me and Remus leaned over and gave my hand a squeeze. Had I looked in the back at that point, I would have seen the happy, knowing smile pass between the two younger passengers.

"Harry, my friend, do you remember the three headed dog?"

Remus and Harry both laughed. 

"Ah, yes," Harry said. "The three headed dog named Fluffy."

"Fluffy?" I asked, my eyes wide. "A three headed dog named Fluffy?"

"Ah, well, his owner was a bit-" Hermione started.

"Nuts," Harry finished, chuckling. He sighed and looked out the window. Hermione took his hand and gave it a squeeze, but didn't say anything.

"I read about a three headed dog once," I said, trying to add to the conversation. "A three headed dog from Greek mythology. His name was Cerberus."

Hermione grinned at me. "He guarded the Hades and the underworld," she said.

"You know Greek mythology?" I asked her, happy to find a fellow enthusiast.

Harry looked away from the mirror and regarded Hermione fondly. "Hermione knows _everything,_" he said with a laugh. "She read the entire library at our school in our first year."

Hermione flushed and playfully shoved Harry. "I did not!"  
"No, it probably took two years, Harry," Remus said, grinning in the mirror. "It's a big library."

I laughed and looked back at Hermione. "You like to read?"  
"I love reading," she said, her eyes sparkling. "And not just novels, but anything I can get my hands on, I like to read it."  
"Hermione likes to learn," Remus commented. "She's always trying to further her education." He smiled at Hermione over his shoulder. "She's one of the most brilliant students I've ever seen."  
"Well, mine is all book talent," Hermione said modestly. "I don't have natural learning and natural abilities like Sirius or Mr Potter did. Or you, for that matter."

"James," Harry corrected her. "Call him James."

"Sorry. James."

"Ah, smart is smart, regardless of how it's come by."

Hermione looked down at her hands, her face a deep shade of red. I couldn't help but smile. Both of them were exceptionally smart from what I could tell, but both were modest about it. Neither flaunted it, really. They both had wonderful imaginations.

"What day do you two figure to go back?" Remus was asking them, bringing me out of my thoughts.

"Well," Harry began. "School starts on the first. We've got our school supplies and everything, so really we don't need to go back until the day before."  
"Harry," Hermione said, staring at him. "No, we can't do that. Don't you want to go visit Sirius before we go back? Plus Ron and Ginny would want to spend some time with us. Plus we promised Fred and George we'd come back and visit before we go to school. Plus-"

"Alright, alright!" Harry interrupted. "How about Thursday, the 28th then?"

Hermione nodded. "That sounds good."  
"Oh, Remus, I'm hungry," Harry said, changing the subject. "Let's stop there."

He was pointing at a McDonalds that was coming up ahead of us. Remus chuckled.

"You and your McDonalds."

*

I woke up early on the morning of the 28th. I knew it was Harry and Hermione's last day with us and that made me sad. I'd really enjoyed having them around. Remus was very relaxed around them; he joked and poked fun at them. It was obvious that he enjoyed being around them.

I showered quickly and put on the coffee. When I went back out into the main room, I found that Harry was up and dressed.

"Good morning," he said softly so he didn't wake the other two.

"Morning," I replied.

"I'm going for a walk. Would you care to join me?"

"Sure," I replied, tying my hair back from my face. I left the room with Harry.

It was a cool day. The sky was overcast and it felt like it might rain. I smiled and lifted my face into the breeze. I opened my eyes and found Harry watching me.

"What's up?" I asked.

He shrugged. "Nothing, really."

We walked for a bit longer, not talking much. Harry wasn't a big talker, I'd noticed. He was usually content to allow Hermione do the talking.

"It's nice here," he said after a bit. "Canada, I mean. You feel safe."

I nodded. "Usually, anyway."

He glanced my way. "Who hit you?"

His question caught me completely off guard. My bruises hadn't even been mentioned since Remus had told Hermione where I'd gotten the black eye from. I stopped and stared up at him.

"Why?"

I could see him grit his teeth. The muscle in his jaw clenched.

"Because it has made me angry ever since we met you. And I can't look at you without wondering."

"Maybe I was in a car accident," I told him shortly.

He shook his head. "You weren't. I'm not saying that it couldn't be that way, but I can tell that you weren't."

"How?"

"Because you are nervous around me. You're not around Remus, I've noticed, but most people aren't. He has an air around him. But I don't have that air, and I scare you."

He was very perceptive. I wasn't really scared of him. I was nervous about his temper. I could tell just by looking at him that he had a quick temper.

"I'm not afraid of you, Harry," I said quickly.

"I know. But I still make you nervous. I think you can tell that I have a bit of a quick temper."

Again, I stared at him.

"However, I would never hit a woman. I hope you realise that." He looked down at me, his eyes serious. "Will you please tell me who hit you?"

"Why do you want to know, Harry?"

He smirked. "So Remus and I can go hit him."

I didn't know what to think of that comment. He didn't really appear to be joking.

"Don't do that," I said quickly. "You don't even know me, why would you care about who hits me?"

He laughed at that. "I'm sure you've noticed the way Remus looks at you. He's known you a little more than a week, and he's dreading the time when he won't get to see you everyday. I can tell that by looking at him. Remus cares for you. A great deal. And I care, because you mean a great deal to Remus, and because I know that you are a good, kind person.

"I also care because I don't think that a man should ever hit a woman. For any reason."

I shivered at the intensity in his voice. Harry was one of those people that exuded power. I didn't know how. He was only average height, he was skinny and pale, but he still had this aura of power that wrapped around him. I knew already that Harry Potter made an excellent friend. I also knew that I never wanted him as my enemy.

We returned to the room not long after. Hermione was still asleep, but Remus was at the table, his hands wrapped around a cup of coffee. He nodded to us as we entered.

Remus, I had discovered, wasn't really a morning person. He enjoyed being up late and sleeping late. This trip didn't really allow him to do that as much as he liked.

"Where did you two go so early?" he asked as we both sat down at the table with him. 

"For a walk," Harry answered. "I'm a bit restless, and Julianne was up, so I asked her to join me."

I slipped my hands in the pockets of the sweats that I was wearing every single day. I was starting to get tired of them. However, a lack of money made it necessary. I didn't want to ask Remus for more clothes.

Remus looked at me. He looked a bit concerned.

"Are you cold?"

__

Not with you looking at me like that, I'm not. I wanted to say it. However, with Harry sitting there, I didn't dare. Instead, I shook my head. He turned back to Harry.

"Are you anxious at all?"

Harry shook his head. "Not at all. I was before we left to come here, but this time it will be easy. It will be nice to get back, actually. I am anxious to see Sirius, see how he is. We've been here for a week now. I hope he hasn't forgotten."

Remus reached out his hand and gave Harry's a quick squeeze. 

"He won't have. I know Sirius, Harry. He won't forget a thing. Once he's healed, he's healed. He's too stubborn not to be."

I smiled, even though I didn't know Sirius personally. 

"I bet you two are like that as well," I said, still smiling.

"Maybe a bit," Harry said sheepishly, grinning at me. "Ron and Hermione and I both drive the school…um…nurse, Madam Pomfrey, crazy. We're all accident prone, so we're in there constantly."

"I was too. I drove Madam Pomfrey crazy too."

I looked at Remus. "How old is this woman, that she was the nurse when you were there?"  
Remus stared at me, his eyes full of mock indignation.

"A better question would be, how old do you think I am?" he demanded.

I shrugged. "Um…younger than 40?"

He glared at me through narrowed eyes. I glanced at Harry and found that he was grinning into his coffee cup.

"I'll have you know, Miss Jules, that I am 37."

"So, younger than 40," I replied, sticking my tongue out at him. He chuckled.

"To answer your question, I have no idea how old Madam Pomfrey is. She may have just been out of school when I went to school. So let's say she's been there for roughly thirty-five years."

"Wow," I said.

I was about to ask Remus how long he'd been a teacher, when Hermione sat up, her curly brown hair wild around her shoulders.

"What time is it?" she asked groggily.

"Early, yet," Harry answered her. "Coffee?"

Hermione covered her mouth as she yawned. "Okay, yes please."

Harry went to pour her a cup as she gathered her clothes and headed for the washroom.

"Are you anxious at all, Hermione?" Remus asked when she reappeared, her hair tied in a low ponytail. She shook her head.

"No, Remus. I trust Harry to get us there."

Remus nodded. We all finished our coffee and went down for breakfast.

*

Harry and Remus were the type of men who carried things for women. It was nice to meet a man like that, really. 

Hermione and I followed behind as Remus and Harry carried the luggage out to the car. Harry had said that he phoned a taxi and he and Hermione were taking a flight from the nearest airport. I wondered how long a flight it was from here to England.

Remus closed the trunk of the car and turned to Harry. Harry held out his hand. Remus took it and pulled Harry into a bone crushing hug. I glanced at Hermione. She was smiling sadly at Harry.

"He's not a big hugger," she whispered to me. "He needs a hug once in a while."

I smiled at the younger woman. She was only sixteen, but she had a head on her shoulders. She was probably more mature than I.

"It was nice meeting you, Hermione," I said softly. She turned to me and smiled again.

"It was nice meeting you too, Jules. I hope that we will see you again." She leaned in conspiratorially. "Remus adores you, I can tell."

I flushed slightly. Hermione gave me a quick hug and went to say good bye to Remus. Harry walked over to me.

"I hope we see you again," he said, echoing Hermione without realizing. "Who knows, maybe you'll join Remus when he comes home."

I smiled, but shook my head. I didn't want to be a burden to Remus. 

"It was an extreme pleasure meeting you, Harry. Remus is right. You are truly a remarkable person."

I smiled at the flush that spread across Harry's cheeks. He gave me a hug and a kiss on the cheek. I said good bye to both of them again and climbed into the car. Remus climbed in beside me. He waved as we pulled out of the parking lot. I glanced in the mirror in time to see Harry wrap Hermione tight in his arms. When I looked back, they were gone.

*

Remus barely said two words to me after we left. I wondered what I'd done to make him angry. I didn't want to ask, just in case I upset him even more. However, it made travelling boring.

We were going south that day. We'd been going north for a while, slightly west, but today we were going south east. 

After several hours of failed attempts at conversation, I sighed and flipped the radio on. I knew that Remus didn't enjoy country, so I found a station that played old time rock and roll. I glanced at Remus to find him looking at me.

"What?"

"Am I boring you?"

I laughed sardonically. "It's quite easy to be bored, Remus, when the only other person in the car isn't saying a word. If you were actually talking to me, I would have left the radio off, but I can't stand listening to myself breath."

Remus threw a look at me, but turned his attention back to the road. I turned to the window, tears threatening at the corners of my eyes. I wasn't usually a crier, but it really bothered me that Remus was upset with me. I hadn't done anything, as far as I knew.

I fought the tears back, but refused to look at Remus, or say anything to him, for the rest of the day. By the time Remus pulled into a hotel, my neck was sore from not moving all day.

Remus got out of the car without saying a word, which was unusual. Usually he would ask if I wanted to wait or go in with him. Plus, he'd slammed the door.

Sighing softly, my eyes burning again, I opened my door and leaned against the car. As Remus didn't seem to want me to go with him, I decided to wait with the car. My legs were nearly dead from sitting all day.

I waited for nearly ten minutes for him to come back. Several people stared at me as I waited. I was just thinking about getting back into the car when he came storming back out.

"What are you doing?" he snarled. I stared at him with wide eyes. I unconsciously backed up a step.

"I-I was waiting for you," I answered. "I'm sorry."

He advanced on me. I backed up a couple more steps, but all he did was open the trunk and grab the two suitcases. He slammed the trunk and started to walk away. All I could do was stare at his retreating back. My eyes were burning again.

"Are you coming?" he yelled over his shoulder. He didn't bother to look.

Tears finally spilled down my cheeks. I stuck my hands in my pockets and followed slowly, watching the ground. No way was I going to let him see me cry!

I had no idea what I'd done to make him so angry with me. Hadn't both Harry and Hermione told me that it was obvious to them that he adored me? He wasn't angry that I'd gone walking with Harry was he?

I was so lost in my thoughts that I nearly crashed into the doors that Remus had gone through. I looked up to see where he was, just as he looked at me. He saw my tear stained cheeks and his face fell.

Damn.

I looked back at my feet as I entered the door. Remus was waiting by the elevators for me. I stopped a few feet away from him, waiting for the elevator. He didn't say anything.

I stood as far back from him as I could in the elevator. I could see him looking at me in the mirrored walls, but I refused to meet his eyes.

If he didn't want me around anymore, I would just leave, is all. While he slept. I could find another ride.

I went straight into the washroom when we got into the room. This room only had one bed as well, so I assumed that that was all they had left. I splashed my face with cold water, trying to make my eyes less puffy. I regarded my appearance in the mirror.

Despite the puffiness that still lingered around my eyes from the tears, I looked much better than I had. I still had faint scratches on my cheeks and my eye was still slightly black, but it wasn't so bad. All the rest of my aches had disappeared. I slipped out of the clothing Remus had given me and washed it in the sink as I had been doing for the last few days. I also rinsed my under things again. This time, I didn't care. I slung everything over the shower rod. This left only my night things that I'd worn when Remus had picked me up.

"Julianne?" Remus knocked at the door lightly. I didn't answer. "Are you hungry?"

I ignored him again. Let him see how it felt.

I opened the door and glared up at him. He drew a breath in at the sight of me.

"No."

I stalked past him and flipped back the cover on the bed. I didn't hear Remus come up behind me.

"Julianne."

He was right behind me. I whirled around, my hand up. It came into contact with his chest. I gave him a tiny shove.

"Stand back," I said. He looked at me with hurt eyes. "What?"

I looked at him closer. I realised with shock that he had tears in his eyes. 

Oh, I didn't know what I would do if he cried.

"I'm so sorry," he said, his breath hitching. I said nothing, but looked down away from his face. "I didn't mean to treat you like that. I just get…like that sometimes."  
I still said nothing, still refused to meet his eyes. I felt his hand on my shoulder. I moved away from him.

"I was upset about Harry leaving. I hated leaving him this summer, and I hated to see him leave."

I could understand that, but why was that my fault?

I turned my back on him and kept my gaze on the floor. My eyes had welled up again, and I didn't want to cry in front of him.

I heard him come up behind me this time. I stiffened. He didn't touch me.

"I'm sorry, Jules." I could hear the tears in his voice. "I didn't mean to hurt you. I didn't mean to ignore you, or snap at you. I'm really sorry."

The tears that I was fighting spilled over. I nodded, still not looking at him. He slipped his arms around my middle and pulled me back against his chest.

"I'm sorry I made you cry. I never want to make you cry." His hands pulled me closer. I felt his lips graze my temple. I leaned back into his chest, my head resting on his shoulder. I felt his lips trail from my temple to my ear. He nibbled my earlobe gently. I shivered.

"Are you still angry?" he asked softly. I shook my head, unable to speak. I then felt his lips on my neck. Finally, I turned in his arms and looked up at him. He brought his hands up to my face and kissed me softly. His hands found their way into my hair.

There was something about kissing Remus that made everything seem right. 

I didn't protest when his hands slid down my arms and slipped under my shirt. I merely lifted my arms so he could remove it.

His mouth became a bit more demanding on mine. I parted my lips and again he took advantage of the invitation. 

I gasped as I felt the world tilt. I realised in shock that Remus had lifted me off the floor. I hit the light switch as he carried me over to the bed.

*

I awoke slowly the next morning. Remus' arm was draped across my hip and back was against his chest. I smiled. I liked waking up next to Remus.

"Morning," Remus said softly, not opening his eyes. 

"Morning," I replied, turning to face him. I covered my mouth with the sheet so I didn't breath on him. His eyes opened and he chuckled. He leaned in and kissed my mouth even though I had the sheet covering it.

We lay there for a while. Remus eventually went back to sleep. As soon as he did, I slipped out from under his arm and headed for the washroom. I wanted to stay in bed with him, but I _needed _to shower and brush my teeth.

I stood in the doorway of the washroom after I'd finished, just watching Remus sleep. This morning he was restless. There was a frown line creasing his forehead and his hands were clenched into fists. I frowned and started toward the bed.

"Sirius," he said, sitting up just as I reached the bed. His eyes were open, but he was obviously still asleep. "No, damn it, we just got him back."

"Remus," I said, grabbing his shoulder and shaking him gently. He closed his eyes. "Remus, wake up!"

He did. And he grabbed my arms and dragged me against him.

"Remus, what?"  
"Jules? Oh, damn, I'm sorry." He released me and was out of bed in an instant. "Can you give me a moment? I need to…make a call."

I nodded, not really understanding. I grabbed Remus' jacket and left the room.

*

**__**

Remus

"Sirius Black."

There was no answer. I tried again. Still nothing. Sighing, I decided to try Harry.

"Harry Potter."  
"Remus?" 

Harry's face appeared in the mirror. His green eyes were anxious and his pale face was tight with worry.

"You had the same dream." It wasn't a question. He stared at me.

"Sirius?" I asked. He nodded. "When did you see him last?"

"Yesterday. Hermione and I met Ginny and Ron at St. Mungos. He seemed to be getting better. Do you think it was Voldemort?"

"What's going on, Harry?" I heard Ron's voice in the background. 

"Harry, you need to get to St. Mungos as soon as you can. Call me back from there."

"Okay, Remus."  
"Oh, Harry!" I said before he could end the connection. "If Arthur's there, take him with you. Or stop in Diagon Alley first and get Bill. I know you're of age, but I'd feel better knowing that you had someone with a bit more experience. Please."

He nodded at me.

__

"Finite," I said quickly, making the mirror go blank. 

After we'd pulled Sirius from beyond the Veil, we'd used some more of those mirrors that Fred and George had brought for Harry. Harry, Sirius, Dumbledore, and myself now had one. Once I got back, we were going to make a few more. They really did come in handy. They were like Muggle cellular phones.

I turned, making sure that Julianne hadn't come back while I'd been speaking with Harry. There was no sign of her. She knew nothing about my being a wizard and I wanted to keep it that way. For now.

"Albus Dumbledore," I said quickly, wanting to speak to the Headmaster before Julianne came back.

"What is it, Remus?" Dumbledore's face appeared in the mirror. His eyes looked a bit worried, but other than that he didn't appear to be troubled. "Have you found it?"  
"No, sir. Harry and I both had a dream about Sirius last night. Harry is leaving for St. Mungos as we speak to make sure Sirius is still alright."

Dumbledore nodded. "I know. I spoke with Harry just after he woke up. He was quite upset. I will meet him at St. Mungos."

I sighed with relief. "Thank you, Albus. I told him to take Arthur or Bill with him, just because they are more experienced, but it would be even better if you were there."

I paused. "Should I come home?"

Dumbledore shook his head. "No, Remus. The Order needs you there. I'm sure Sirius is alright."

Dumbledore ended the connection before I could respond. I stood up and paced around the room. 

"Remus, what is it?"

Julianne had come back. I stood there and looked at her. Her face was nearly healed by now. Her eyes were just as haunted as they had been when she'd jumped in front of the car that I'd rented. She stood there holding a tray full of food. Her eyes were dark with worry.

I crossed to her and took the tray from her. She'd gotten breakfast for us.

I was glad that there would be no morning after awkwardness.

"Remus?" She had hold of my hands, trying to stop my pacing. "Remus, please, you're scaring me. What's wrong?"

"Remember my friend Sirius?"  
She nodded, her face paling slightly.

"I had a dream. About him. That he was in danger. I just spoke with Harry and Harry had the same dream."

I had expected her face to fill with scepticism. It didn't. Instead she went even paler.

"Do you have visions?" she asked me.

I shook my head. "No. I have instincts. I just know when somebody's in danger. Someone I care about." I swallowed, hoping that made sense. "Harry seems to possess those same instincts."

She let go of my hands and started picking things up. I watched her for a moment.

"What are you doing, Jules?"

"You have to go to England, don't you?" There was no anger in her eyes as she said this. Just understanding.

I shook my head. "No. Harry's going to the hospital to make sure he's okay. He told me he'd call me when he found out."

She bit her lip. "Are you sure?"

I nodded. She came and put her arms around me. 

"He'll be okay, Remus. I know it in my heart."

*

We decided to remain at the same hotel that day so Julianne could wash the clothes that I'd conjured for her. She had no idea I had done that, of course. She assumed they were mine. Plus I didn't want to be driving when Harry called back.

Julianne had just left to go start the laundry when I heard Harry's voice.

"Remus Lupin."

"I'm here, Harry," I said, snapping up the mirror. Harry's eyes were slightly red. "Oh no."

"No, no, Remus, he's alive. St. Mungos has been destroyed."

I stared at Harry. Hermione appeared in the mirror beside him. She was crying.

"Nearly everybody was killed, Remus," she sobbed. "Only a couple Healers and a few patients survived. When we got here, Professor Dumbledore was already here. It was Voldemort, Remus. The Dark Mark was in the sky."

I cursed, wanting to throw something. All those people.

"How many in total survived?"

Hermione started to cry harder. "Twelve. Twelve people out of six hundred."

"Lockhart?"

"He's dead," Harry said dully. "We think Neville Longbottom's parents are too. We haven't found them yet."

I was going to be sick. "Let me see it."

"No, Remus-" Hermione began. 

"You don't want to see it, Remus," Harry said.

"Let me see it!" I yelled. Harry stared at me for a moment and then turned the mirror. I gaped at the scene.

There was nothing there. Just a crater in the ground and some debris on the street. I looked closer at some rubbish on the street that turned out to be the remains of a person.

"Oh, God," I said. "Why?"

"Are you kidding? There were Ministry officials in there. Plus Sirius, who they all know is in the Order. They knew that if they took out the hospital, several important people would die." Harry's voice caught. Hermione was already clinging to him. I could see Ron and Ginny in the mirror. They appeared to be trying to help.

"Remus," Harry said softly, his voice catching. "Remus, Percy was here."

I dropped the mirror. No!

Harry's jaw clenched. "He was inside when Voldemort attacked. We haven't found him yet, Remus."

"Oh no, do Arthur and Molly know?"

Harry nodded. "Arthur came with us. Mrs Weasley came as soon as she'd heard that St. Mungos had been demolished." Harry closed his eyes. "We had to tell her that Percy was here. One of the surviving Healers gave her a calming and sleeping draught."

I heard the door start to open. 

"I have to go Harry. Jules is back. I'll phone you at Headquarters later. _Finite."_

The mirror went blank. 


	5. The Death of a Princess

Harry Potter and his whole world belong to JK Rowling. I am borrowing a few characters from her. This is set in 7th year, it's from Remus' and a new character POV. Remember, this IS a romance!

****

The Death of a Princess

"Remus, what is it?" I cried as soon as I opened the door. He had his hands over his face. There was a mirror sitting on the bed in front of him.

"The hospital-" he started. I crawled on the bed beside him and wrapped my arms around him. His voice broke as he continued. "The hospital where Sirius was at…it was destroyed."

"Oh no," I cried, pulling Remus closer against me. "Oh my God, Remus, is he-"

Remus started to tremble. "No. Harry said he's okay. He said they managed to get him out. Jules, there were six hundred people in that hospital. They've only found twelve people alive so far." 

I didn't know what to say. I just held him.

"For some reason, Percy, Molly and Arthur's son, was at the hospital. They haven't found him yet."

"But what happened?" I cried, tears starting down my cheeks. "How was the hospital destroyed?"  
"I don't know, Jules. I don't know." Remus was crying as well. "Maybe something blew up inside it. I just don't know."

He swiped his hands over his eyes. I could still feel him trembling. I buried my face in his shoulder.

"Was it terrorists?" I asked, remembering the car bomb at the World Trade Centre and the Federal building in Oklahoma City.

"They didn't know, Jules." Remus pulled me into his lap and wrapped his arms around me, burying his face in my neck. I felt him start to cry again. I just held him. Now was not the time for more questions.

"When do you leave for home?" I asked a bit later. He raised his head and looked at me, his eyes still slightly swollen. He shook his head.

"I don't know if I should go. I will if they find Percy, of course. But the Headmaster of my school said they need me here. I have to find what I'm looking for. Now more than ever."

I wished he would tell me what it was. Then I could help him find it. But I'd asked again a few days ago, and he'd said that he couldn't tell me. 

"I think we're going to stay here for a couple days though. Harry will need to get hold of me and this way I have a telephone."

I nodded. That made sense, although it seemed strange that he didn't have a cell phone. I picked the mirror up off the bed and set it gently on the table. 

"You should lay down, Remus," I said softly. "You're tired and you're in shock. I'll stay in the room and answer the phone. You should rest."  
He looked at me for a moment, then lay down in the bed.

"I will if you lay with me. Please."

He looked somewhat lost, as though he was to blame for that hospital blowing up. It very nearly broke my heart to see him like that. I lay down with him. He wrapped his arms around me and buried his face in my hair. I could feel him shuddering once in a while. I held back my tears, trying to be strong for Remus.

He went to sleep not long after. I lay there with him, watching out the window. I could see children playing in a park. See families laughing. I could see people who had no idea that an entire hospital had blown up and many people had lost their lives. Many families were ripped apart. I closed my eyes to try to stem the flow of tears.

I awoke to the sound of the phone ringing. Remus jerked upright, his hand fumbling for it. 

"Hello. Yes, please, put him through."

A pause. Then,

"Harry?"

Remus went silent. I rolled over to look at him. His eyes were closed. There were tears coursing down his cheeks again.

"They're sure?" I sat up, meaning to leave the room, to give Remus some privacy. He caught my hand and shook his head. He kept hold of it, his grip almost painful. I didn't say anything, just let him hold my hand. 

Remus sighed. "Of course, of course. No, Harry, I will be there. I promise." I kept watching Remus' face. His jaw clenched. "Is Sirius still okay? Hogwarts? Okay, good. No, she knows he's innocent. What about the Longbottom's?"

Remus closed his eyes. "God, that poor kid. Okay. No. I'll be there. How are Molly and Arthur?"  
Remus was silent for a moment, listening. I slipped my hand out of Remus and moved in beside him, my arms around him once more.

"Fred and George? What about Charlie? Were you able to get hold of him? Okay, good. I know it is, Harry. Just be there. Just listen. There's nothing you can say. Has Hermione talked to her parents? She should let them know. Maybe it wouldn't hurt for them to take a vacation, get out of town for a while." Remus nodded, although Harry couldn't see him. "Yes. Okay. Thank you for phoning Harry. I'll phone tomorrow to find out the…arrangements. Okay. Bye."

He set the receiver down on the table and buried his face in his hands once more. 

"Remus?" I asked gently.

"They found Percy." He looked up at me, his eyes stormy. "He's dead."

I closed my eyes, a sob welling up in my throat. Why should I feel this way? I didn't even know the man, or his parents.

"They're sure?" I asked. Remus nodded.

"They haven't, understandably, set a funeral date yet. I told Harry I'd phone him back tomorrow." 

Remus reached over and placed the phone received back into the cradle. He then picked it up again and ordered a bottle of red wine. I didn't say anything when he set the phone back down. He glanced at me, his eyes red once more.

"They didn't find any more survivors."

I held Remus again. I didn't know what to say. I knew he was hurting very badly. 

"I'll get the door," I said a minute later when somebody knocked. I opened it and took the bottle of wine from the waiter. "Thank you," I said softly. He nodded, bade me a pleasant evening and walked away. I stood there a moment, then turned back into the room. Remus was looking out the window, watching the same park I'd been watching. 

"So many people," he said softly as I poured a glass of wine for him. "So many innocent. And it could all end tomorrow." He turned to take the wine from me and caught me in his arms. "The human spirit is a wonderful thing, Jules. We are born to die. That's all. And yet we live. Every day we wake up, and we've come one day closer to death. Even knowing that, we get out of bed, get on with our day." His voice caught. "We worry about the most idiotic things. A career. Money. And yet the greatest gift we ever receive is usually taken for granted. Children. A family. A home." He brought the wine to his lips and drank the whole glass in one swallow. I stared. 

"Damn it, Percy." Remus turned and hurled the glass at the wall opposite. I shrank away from him, watching him fearfully. "All he wanted was a career. Yet he had the greatest family anyone could ever ask for. It's a large family and they all look out for one another. Arthur and Molly Weasley had seven children, and yet they still had room in their hearts for both Harry and Hermione. And Sirius. And me."

"Remus," I said, catching him by the arm as he made for the bottle again. "Please don't do this."

"Do what? I just want a drink."

"You had one. Please, that's enough."

Remus glared down at me, his eyes blazing. I stood my ground, even though it took everything I had. Remus wouldn't hurt me sober. I didn't know him well enough to know what he'd do drunk.

His eyes softened slightly as he looked at me. 

"Okay, Jules. Okay. I won't drink any more. I promise."

*

When I woke the next morning, Remus was already on the phone. I went down to the restaurant to grab some bagels for us for breakfast and then went back to the room. Remus was still on the phone.

"Okay. Wednesday. Yes. I promise I'll be there. Yes. Thank you, Arthur. I'm so sorry. How is Molly? I thought she would be. Okay. Yes, I will see you in a few days. Bye, Arthur."

Remus looked pale and drawn as he turned to me. I sat down next to him. He slipped his arm around my shoulders.

"You don't look well," I said softly.

"I didn't sleep well. And I've got a killer headache."

I nodded. I'd felt him tossing and turning all night.

"How is everyone doing?"

He shook his head. "Not well. Molly has been in bed ever since she found out, which is distressing, but for Molly I think it might be best. Arthur is…well, I'm not sure how Arthur is. He sounded tired. That's all. Bill, their oldest, had to go to Romania to tell Charlie, their second oldest. They haven't heard from him yet. The rest of their children are there. Arthur said that they're holding up."

I nodded.

"When are you leaving for England? When is the funeral?"

He looked at me and his eyes looked relieved. "You don't want to come with me?"

I bit my lip. A part of me did, but I knew I shouldn't. I shook my head.

"It's not that I don't want to, Remus…but I don't know these people and it wouldn't be a good place to meet everybody. I wouldn't want to intrude."

He hugged me tight and gave me a kiss on my temple.

"You wouldn't be intruding. But I understand what you mean. Thank you, Julianne."

I nodded, trying to smile up at him.

"So when are you leaving?"

"Well…the funeral is Wednesday afternoon. I thought I would leave the day after tomorrow. What day is that?"

"Monday."

"Monday then. That way I can…help."

I looked up at him. I bit my lip.

"Will you be back?" I whispered.

He looked down at me, his eyes like steel. He gripped my upper arms in his. 

"I will be back. I swear I won't just leave you." He pulled me against his chest. "I promise I will come back for you."

I nodded. Remus leaned down and kissed me softly. I rested my head against his chest when he released me and we sat like that for hours.

*

Sunday dawned dark and rainy. I shivered as I went to close the window. I had a feeling that there was something going on. Something not at all good.

I turned just as Remus came out of the washroom. He smiled at me.

"I ordered breakfast, I hope you don't mind."

I shook my head. He went back into the washroom to finish getting dressed. 

"Can you pay for breakfast?" he asked when it arrived. "My wallet is on the bureau."

I grabbed his wallet and opened the door. My feeling of foreboding hadn't gone away. 

"Good morning," I said cheerfully to the waitress. Her eyes were red rimmed. "What's wrong?" I asked quickly.

She shook her head. I handed her the money and she walked away. I wheeled the cart into the room, grabbed a bit of orange that was on a plate and picked up the newspaper.

I stared at the newspaper headline. The orange fell from my hand.

"Remus!" I shrieked. He came running out of the washroom and was at my side in an instant.

"What is it? What's happened?" he demanded. I pointed. He grabbed the paper from me and stared at it. I watched his face go white.

I started to cry. Remus read the entire article.

"A car accident. Jesus."  
"Oh my God, Remus," I said through my tears. "Princess Diana. How can it be?"

Remus' hands were shaking slightly as he closed the paper. He pulled me against him.

"Jules," he said softly. "I'm going to have to leave today. I'm sorry."

I nodded. I'd known that from the second I'd seen the headline declaring that Princess Diana had been killed in a car accident.

"I'll help you pack," I said softly. He shook his head.

"I've got clothes at home. I'll just finish getting dressed and then I'll be leaving. I'll leave the car for you, but I don't think you should go anywhere just yet. I will be back by next weekend, I promise. I'll telephone you as soon as I get there."

I nodded again. He returned to the bathroom and quickly finished getting dressed. I packed a bag for him with his shampoo and his toiletries in it. He took it from me and gave me a quick kiss. I saw him grab the mirror on the bedside table and tuck it into the bag before he headed for the door.

It wasn't until just after the door had closed behind him that I realised that his wallet was still sitting on the breakfast tray. I grabbed it and yanked the door open. I heard a sharp _crack_ as I left the room.

I looked both ways. I couldn't see Remus anywhere. Yet, he couldn't possibly have had time to get to the elevators _or_ the stairs. People were sticking their heads out of their doors, searching for the source of the noise. I shrugged and went back into the room. He'd probably be back up for it before he left.

Yet he wasn't. He didn't return for it at all. 

I was worried about him getting safely to England. I had the television on, but I couldn't make myself watch the reports about the Princess. I paced the room but only made myself dizzy. I phoned my aunt and uncle. My aunt has always been the biggest Royal watcher and I knew she'd be reeling from this. She could barely speak to me. I spoke to my uncle for a while. After I finished speaking with him, I grabbed Remus' jacket and went outside for a bit. There was a restaurant next door that we'd been eating at, so I headed there. They allowed you to put things on your hotel tab.

I walked in to find the hostess as red-eyed as our morning waitress had been.

"Ah, hi Julianne," she said quietly. "We missed you this morning. Will Remus be joining you this evening?"

"No, Rebecca. He's gone to England for a few days. He had a funeral to go to."

She nodded and took me to a table. She looked dead on her feet.

"Rebecca, are you alright?"

She nodded, but I noticed her eyes well up. She sat in the chair across from me.

"It's just so sad, about Princess Diana, is all," she explained. "I've been here since this morning because the afternoon hostess called in sick, and I feel terrible."

"Well, sit with me for a while. You're not busy right now, and you're entitled to a break. When is it?"

She glanced at her watch. "I won't get it for another ten minutes yet."

"Well, come back and sit with me. If you want to, that is. Don't worry if you don't."

"No, I will," she said, climbing back to her feet. "Thank you, Julianne."

I ordered while I waited for Rebecca. She slid across from me just as my salad got there.

We chatted for a while, mainly about the Princess. Rebecca told me that they hadn't been busy at all, because people were staying home to watch the coverage. I found that almost too incredible to believe.

When I went to put my bill on the room tab, I found that there was no bill to be paid. Rebecca had taken care of it. I thanked her and told her the next one was on me. I went back to my room.

I paced some more. I finally decided to run myself a hot bath to pass the time.

And wouldn't you know it. Just as I was sliding into the bubbles, the phone rang.

"Hey, Jules." It was Remus. I smiled to myself.

"Hi, Remus. How are you? That flight didn't seem to take long at all. Did you get there alright? How is everyone? You forgot your wallet. I miss you."

Remus chuckled softly.

"I miss you too. I realized that I forgot my wallet just after I got back here. That's alright. I've got everything I need here with me. My passport and things. My flight was fine. It didn't seem to take long at all. Just a blink of an eye.

"People aren't doing very well here. You should see, Jules. It's heartbreaking. Hermione's parents showed up here today and her mother is crying something awful. Of course, she made Hermione cry. It's chaos."

"I bet it is," I said quietly. 

"I will try to be back on Friday afternoon. I've got Percy's funeral on Wednesday, then I want to go and make sure Sirius is okay on Thursday. And I might be going to the Princess' funeral on Friday, I'm not sure yet."

"Okay," I replied. "Will you need me to come get you from the airport?"

"No, I'll be alright. But I forgot to tell you a couple of things. Just keep going to the same restaurant we've been going to. Put the bill on the room tab, I'll clear it up when I get back. Also, when I get back, I will have the person at the desk call up to the room, so if somebody knocks and you haven't ordered anything and nobody has called up, don't answer it. Okay?"

"Okay…but Remus, why?"

"Just safety. People know I'm there on Ministry business, they don't know I'm gone. Plus…well…it might not be safe for people to know that you're there by yourself. You know?"

"I know…thank you for being concerned, Remus," I said, smiling to myself.

"Well…I don't want anything to happen to you."

I continued to smile my silly smile. I could just imagine Remus blushing.

"Okay. Well, I have to get going. I'll give you a call later in the week."

"Sounds good," I said. "Give my condolences to everybody."

"I have. Good night, Julianne."

"Good night, Remus."

*

The next few days passed by slowly. I slept in late every morning, which is unusual for me. I went down to the gift shop to buy a couple books to amuse myself with. I was finished both of them by Tuesday evening. 

Remus phoned me again Wednesday, right after the funeral. He sounded very tired. He told me that he'd been to three funerals since he'd been there, and had at least one more to go to. He promised again that he'd be back by Friday evening. We didn't talk for very long. He told me that he missed me and we hung up.

I ran myself a bath on Wednesday evening. I missed Remus so bad it was like having a constant ache in my chest. I knew that he had to be there right now, but that didn't make it any easier to be away from him.

It was odd, really. I'd only know him for a short time, less than two weeks, but yet I'd never connected with anybody the way I did with him. In only two weeks, I couldn't imagine my life without having Remus in it.

I smiled to myself. I wondered if Remus felt the same about me. Both Harry and Hermione had said that he did, but they were just kids, really.

When I went to bed that night, I had dreams about castles and people flying on brooms and the biggest dog I'd ever seen in my life. Strange.

The phone awoke me around 8. I stared at it for a moment before realising what it was. I grabbed it before it could stop.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Miss Wallace. There's a gentleman down here who wishes to be let upstairs."

Remus! He was back already? It was only Thursday morning!

"Really? What's his name?"

I heard the woman ask. 

"He says he doesn't want to say. He says that you know who it is."

That puzzled me somewhat. 

"Okay…could you describe him to me?"

"That I can do. He's around 6 feet and has blond hair."

"Remus! Yes, okay, he can come up."

I hung up the phone and laughed. I spun myself in a circle. I knew I must look like a lunatic, but I didn't care. Remus was back!

I nearly ran to the door when he knocked. I jerked it open.

"You're back earl-" The rest of my sentence died on my tongue. I stared at the man standing before me. Too late, I stepped back and tried to slam the door shut.

"You always were slow, Jules," Noah snarled as he shoved his way into the room.

*

**__**

Remus

I left Lockhart's funeral early. I knew it was rude, but I couldn't handle another funeral. His was the fourth I'd been to since I'd been back to England.

The Longbottom's were buried first. They'd been buried on the same day, side by side. Just as they had been ever since Bellatrix Lestrange and the others had tortured them into insanity.

That had been hard, being there. Neville had nearly had to carry his grandmother out. In the end, somebody had conjured up a wheelchair for her and she'd just sat there and cried. 

Neville hadn't been in much better shape. I wondered how awful it must be. In some ways, he'd been worse off than Harry. Harry knew that his parents would never come back. Neville had always had that hope to cling to. Now they never would.

Percy's funeral was on Wednesday. As heartbreaking as the Longbottom's funeral was, I had known going in that Percy's would be worse. 

It was a lovely service. All of Percy's siblings had written something for their brother and had gotten up to read. 

As different as Percy had been from any of his siblings, he had still been their brother. And it was always hard to lose a sibling.

Molly collapsed as they started to lower the casket into the ground. Arthur and I moved to help her, but Fred and George made it there first. Fred helped his mother up and, together, they helped her out of the cemetery.

As soon as we got back to number 12, Grimmauld Place, Bill brewed up a Calming Draught for his mother and she was back in bed. I found this a little distressing, as I knew that she needed to grieve. I didn't say anything however.

"I can't believe he's really gone," Ginny said, her eyes dry and red. She curled up in Harry's lap and rested her head on his shoulder. He stroked her back gently and spoke quietly in her ear. 

"He's not gone," Hermione said softly. "He's always going to be with you."

Ron took her hand and kissed it.

"Do you remember the cauldron bottom report?" Bill asked suddenly, his face breaking into a grin.

Charlie chuckled. "Poor Percy. We were always picking on him about something." He sighed and rubbed his eyes. "I wish we could apologise for it all."

"We were the worst," Fred and George said together. "We were always picking on him."

Indeed, since they'd heard the news, both had been quite subdued. That was unusual for the Weasley twins.

I felt like an intruder so I left to phone Julianne. I missed her like crazy. I wished now that I had just brought her with me.

She asked how I was. She asked how everyone was doing. I told her that I had Lockhart's funeral on Thursday. I still would go to Hogwarts to visit Sirius, but I wanted to get back to Canada. I needed to finish my mission.

But I couldn't sit through Lockhart's funeral. I sat at the back and left not long after it began. I felt bad, but I had barely known the man after all.

I scribbled a quick note to Harry explaining where I was going, then Disapparated.

"Remus, you scared me!" Madam Rosmerta exclaimed as I appeared in The Three Broomsticks.

"Sorry Rosmerta," I said quickly. I exited and made my way up the High Street toward Hogwarts. 

Hogwarts had started on September 1st as usual. I knew that many students weren't there because nearly everybody had known somebody in St. Mungos. Ron, Hermione, Harry and Ginny would be returning Monday. Nobody knew when Neville Longbottom would return, if he returned at all.

I passed Hagrid's hut. The windows stared blankly back at me. I stifled a sigh of sadness as I forced myself to look away.

Hogwarts just wasn't the same without Hagrid.

I opened the doors to the Entrance Hall as quietly as I could. I heard the chatter from the Great Hall and knew that students were in there for lunch. I passed the doors and made my way up to the hospital wing as quickly as I could.

"Remus?"

I turned. Minerva McGonagall was standing at the bottom of the stairs behind me.

"Hello Minerva." I started back down toward her.

"What are you doing here?" she asked quietly. "I thought you were in Canada?"

"I am. I came back for the Weasleys. Plus Arthur needed somebody to look into Lady Diana's death."

She raised an eyebrow at me. "He did? He didn't think that it was You-Know-Who did he?"

"Not really, but there always is that chance isn't there? It turned out that Voldemort didn't play a part in it though. Just idiot Muggles."

She nodded, slightly misty eyed. "I can't even begin to imagine what that family is going through." I didn't know if she meant the Royal family or the Weasleys. I didn't ask. She looked back up at me. "I suppose you're here to see Padfoot?"

I nodded silently. She bade me good evening and I raced up the stairs, hoping I didn't meet anyone else.

I knocked on the door of the hospital wing. Poppy opened it slowly.

"Remus!" she cried, flinging the door wide. She wrapped me in a tight hug.

"Hello, Poppy," I said softly, returning the hug. "How is he?"

She shook her head slowly. "He's stubborn, Remus. He'll be okay." Her face broke into a smile. "He's not changed since he was a teenager. He still doesn't like to be 'fussed over'."

"Can I see him?" I asked as I started past her, but she caught my arm.

"Did anyone tell you-?" She didn't seem to want to finish the question.

"That his arm was badly burned? Harry did." I paled. "He still has it, doesn't he?"

"Yes. It will take a long time for it to heal though."

I nodded slowly. "What about his head? Is he still confused?"

"He doesn't seem to be. He knows where he is. He asks for you nearly every day. He asks for Harry too. He knows who I am, who Albus and Minerva are. He knows the year and what day it is. I would say that his injuries are just the burns right now. He should be able to be out of here by Hallowe'en."

I grinned, unable to contain myself. That was the first bit of good news I'd had in ages. "That's what the Healer at St Mungos said too." 

Sadness flickered over Poppy's face. She nodded and let me go ahead and see Sirius.

"It's about bloody time," he growled as I opened the door. "I heard you come in and I sat up and tried to get all prettied up, but after a second I thought that you'd have to just get sitting up. I'm too tired to do anything else."

"Don't go getting all prettied up on my account. I've seen you at your worst, remember," I said, grinning at him despite the shock of his appearance.

It had been less than a month since I'd seen him. He hadn't looked all that great then either, but now he was completely emaciated. The burn that Harry had warned me about wasn't visible. The left side of his face and his entire left arm were shrouded in thick bandages.

"Oh, Padfoot," I said softly. I sat in the chair beside his bed.

"Moony, don't you start feeling sorry for me too," he snarled. "I've had it up to here with people looking at me like that and I swear I'm going to hex the next person who does it. I was one of the _lucky_ ones."

I nodded as I thought of Percy. Lockhart. Frank and Alice Longbottom.

"How are Arthur and Molly?" Sirius asked softly. "What the hell was Percy doing there?"

"Arthur doesn't know. He wasn't there on Ministry business he said."

Sirius shook his head then winced. I tried to keep all traces of pity out of my eyes.

"Are you in much pain?"

"Not much. It hurts when I try to move that arm or my head. Other than that, I'm dandy."

I knew he was being sarcastic, but I ignored it. Sirius had always hated being stuck inside.

I looked back at him and found that he had a smirk on his face. I raised an eyebrow.

"What are you smirking at?"

"You," he answered. "Harry told me all about your pretty lady that you rescued."

"He did, did he?"

"Indeed. He said that despite the bruises and the haunted look in her eyes, she's absolutely stunning. He also said that she's got big-"  
"One more word, Padfoot, and I'll be the one doing the hexing," I warned, raising my wand. Sirius' eyes danced with mirth. Then they became serious once more.

"What were the bruises from? I asked Harry and he got all quiet and angry."

I sighed. "Her boyfriend. She jumped in front of the car that I rented. I nearly ran her over."

Sirius' blue eyes grew hard. It made him just as angry as it did me to hear about Julianne's boyfriend hitting her.

"I haven't asked what started it. She was in pretty rough shape. When she jumped in the car, he shot at her with one of those Muggle wands. A gun? I asked if she wanted to stay with me. She was so afraid, Sirius. She still is. That first night she had a horrid nightmare and cried for probably fifteen minutes before I could calm her down."

Sirius watched me as I told him this. His eyes were angry. Almost as angry as they'd been that night in the Shrieking Shack.

"Moony?"

"Yes?"

"When I get out of here, let's both go to Canada and pay a visit to that boyfriend, alright?"

"Okay."

"I want to meet her. Harry said that she's fun, she's nice and that she loves anything magic."

"You should see her, Sirius! She's obsessed with magic! I've never met a Muggle so _open_ to the idea of magic." I paused. "I could tell her what I am and I don't think she'd be scared away."

Sirius tried to sit up straight. He groaned with pain.

"Don't go doing that, Remus. There's no reason for that unless…unless you plan on her being around for a long time."  
"Maybe I do," I said softly. "Harry and Hermione were playing games in the car…bringing up all their past adventures, but making it sound like it wasn't real, you know? And Harry said to Hermione 'Remember when we confronted the escaped criminal? And were rescued by a werewolf?' I knew it was true, but she didn't. She said something about werewolves being portrayed as evil in books, and Harry told her that werewolves have a bad reputation. That it wasn't something we can control. And she was completely open to that, Sirius."

"Oh Moony. You've fallen for a girl you've known for a fortnight."

I visited with Sirius for another couple hours. He fell asleep before I left and I sat there with him for a while. I smiled as I remembered James and Sirius doing the same with me during the full moon. Three times I had thought that I'd lost Sirius. Three times I'd gotten him back.

I passed the Great Hall again on my way out. I nearly went in, dinner smelled heavenly. I knew that I shouldn't let the students see me however. They might wonder why I wasn't teaching when they'd seen me there.

Nobody really knew that Sirius was at Hogwarts. Poppy was keeping him in a private room and only certain people were allowed in to see him. Albus, Minerva, Harry and his friends and myself.

"Remus?"

I turned to find the Headmaster framed in the doorway of the Great Hall.

"Albus," I greeted him.

He stepped away from the Great Hall and gestured for me to walk with him. I did so.

"Have you had any luck so far?"

I shook my head.

"No, sir. When I got there, my instincts told me to go east, so I was going east. Now, however, my instincts are telling me nothing."

He nodded.

"You remember the signs to look for?"

"Of course."

"And you don't think that this…ah…young lady is hindering you at all?"

I stopped and stared at Albus.

"I don't think that for a moment, Albus. Maybe I'm just not in the right area. Maybe I'm not in the right country."

Albus shook his head. "No. There was no other place it could be. Why it had to be Canada…Why couldn't it have been a place like Luxembourg."  
"Professor Trelawny didn't say what part of Canada, did she?"

Albus smiled. "No. That would have been helpful."

I sighed. "I'll find it, Albus."

He nodded. "I have faith in you, Remus. However, you must make haste. You've lingered in Britain long enough."

I nodded.

"I will leave first thing in the morning."

"Good. Please hurry, Remus. The entire wizarding world is counting on you."

*

As soon as I got back to Grimmauld Place I telephoned Julianne, meaning to tell her I'd be back first thing in the morning and to please pack everything and be ready to go.

"I'm sorry, sir, there doesn't seem to be an answer. Are you sure that's the right room number?"

"I'm absolutely positive," I answered. "Could she have gone out for lunch?"

"I believe that she left earlier, sir."

"What do you mean, left?" I barked. I realised that my hands were shaking slightly.

"A man came to pick her up. She left around 9."

I swore under my breath. "Did she say where she was going?"

"Home, sir. She told the morning desk clerk that she was going home."

"Thank you." I hung up abruptly, my insides turned to ice.

It looked like Noah had found her.

Thanks for all the reviews everybody!! I'm glad you're enjoying the story.

As for the title of this chapter, I've been wondering lately if J.K. Rowling will mention Princess Diana's death in book 7. I don't know if she will, but I think it is something that should be mentioned, at least a little bit. It's something that could be looked into as an act of Voldemort, like I had it mentioned as here. Anyway, please read and let me know what you think! I welcome both negative and positive comments.


	6. Search and Rescue

Harry Potter and his whole world belong to JK Rowling. I am borrowing a few characters from her. There are too many Remus slash stories. This is a Remus romance.

****

Search and Rescue

__

I've got to get out of here.

That was the first thought in my head when I woke up. I stared at Noah's sleeping form. I slowly, carefully, slipped out of the bed.

I ran to the bathroom. I had to. I was going to be sick.

I rinsed my face in the sink when I'd finally climbed off the floor. I looked at the fresh bruises around my mouth and my eye. I cursed myself for being weak.

I clambered into the shower. I felt filthy after…what he'd made me do. I was dirty. I needed to get clean.

I scrubbed myself for an hour. My skin was burning when I finally shut the water off. I hoped that Noah hadn't been able to hear my sobs.

At least he hadn't touched my unicorns.

I left the bathroom and found the bedroom deserted. My heart leapt. Now was my chance.

I hurried down the stairs. I ran to the front door and turned the doorknob.

Nothing.

He'd had the locks changed so that you now needed a key to unlock it from the inside.

No matter, there were still windows. I hurried to the window.

He'd put bars on them!

I was trapped inside my own house.

Screaming in frustration, I slammed my fist into the window. It cracked and cut my knuckles.

"Brilliant, Jules," I muttered to myself, moving into the kitchen and wrapping my hand in a towel. I noticed the note on the table after a moment.

__

Hey Jules,

When you can be a good little girl, you can leave the house. Until then, I expect dinner for when I get home.

Noah

Dinner indeed. 

Poison maybe.

I smiled to myself at that twisted thought. No, I wouldn't stoop to that level.

I might be tempted to spit in it though.

Sighing, I opened the basement door to go down to the freezer. He'd even had bars put on the basement windows. Well, that couldn't be very safe. What if there was a fire?

Glancing around the basement I noticed several empty boxes piled against the wall. Inspiration struck me. He couldn't keep me locked up forever. I would be ready to go when he finally let down his guard.

I grabbed a couple boxes and raced up to my bedroom. I began piling things into them. Then I paused.

If I did it neatly, I could get more into the boxes. It would be easier to take two or three boxes, rather than ten.

I packed my books first. They were the most important things. Next I packed enough clothes to last me for two weeks. That was enough for me, and it left enough clothes that Noah wouldn't notice them missing. I could come back for the rest if need be.

I dragged those boxes down to the basement. I grabbed two more and packed them as well. My pictures. My quilt that my aunt had made for me. On impulse I threw my passport into one of the boxes. I didn't know why, surely I'd never see Remus again. That thought nearly broke my heart. I kept working to keep myself distracted.

Everything I packed, I replaced with something else. Noah might think something was off, but he'd never figure out what.

I reached my unicorns. I didn't know what I was going to do with them. Noah had always said that they were childish, that I should get rid of them. 

I picked up my favourite unicorn. The first one that Nannie had bought me. It was a tiny pink unicorn with a golden horn and golden hooves. I smiled at it and carefully wrapped it in newspaper. I slipped it inside the box with my quilt.

I would do one a day. He'd notice after a while, but hopefully I'd be gone by then.

I took those boxes to the basement and brought up two steaks for dinner.

By the time Noah returned from work, I'd prepared his favourite dinner. Mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, Caesar salad, garlic toast and oven roasted steak.

And just before I'd served it, I'd spat in every single bowl. 

Disgusting, I know. But it made me feel better.

Things continued in this vein for several days. I would get up and scrub myself every day. I'd pack one more unicorn. I'd make a wonderful dinner.

By Tuesday I was ready to set the house on fire with me in it. What difference did it make, really? I was never going to see Remus again anyway. I had no way of getting hold of him. I didn't know the name of his school or where it was even. I had no idea what part of England he was from. 

I sat on the couch, my face in my hands. How could I have been so stupid? I'd fallen for a guy I'd known for two weeks.

That night I made lasagne for dinner with a special sauce of Sunlight dish detergent. It was horrible. Noah gagged on it for an hour.

I paid dearly for the only bit of fun I'd had since I'd been back.

"Get up!" Noah screamed at me. My head was spinning and I could taste blood. Damn it!

I got up and stared at him defiantly.

"What made you think you could get away with putting _dish soap_ in _my_ dinner?"

I laughed almost hysterically. "You git, I've been putting special ingredients in _your _dinner all week! The first night I _spit_ in it! Last night? That wonderful mint whipped cream on the pie? It was shaving cream! You don't _want _to know what else I did!"

__

Crack. I let out a groan as he slapped me so hard that my head nearly fell off my shoulders. I sat down on the floor to try to get the room back in focus.

"What is a git?" he demanded. 

I laughed again. "It means idiot! That's what you are! You are the _world's biggest git!_"

I had the breath knocked out of me as he kicked me in the stomach. I curled up in a ball and just hoped he'd go away. But he was as tenacious as I was stupid.

"Oh, things aren't so funny now, are they, you stupid bitch!" Noah yelled at me. I coughed as I dragged myself to my feet again. I knew if he did it again, I would probably be coughing up blood. I heard a bang and assumed it was a picture falling off the wall.

"Oh, things never were funny, you idiot. You're just too stupid to realise that."

He raised his hand. I tensed, cringing, my eyes closed, waiting for the blow to fall. I heard another bang.

"If you touch her again, I will kill you."

I opened my eyes. My mouth dropped. 

Noah had been slammed against the wall. Remus stood there, his eyes blazing, his hand at Noah's throat.

"Remus," I whispered. I took a shaky step toward him.

"Stay there," he said to me. He let go of Noah's throat.

"This doesn't concern you!" Noah screamed at Remus as soon as he could breath properly again. "Just who the hell do you think you are, barging into _my_ bedroom like this?"

I laughed shakily. "He's my white knight," I whispered.

"Julianne," Remus said quietly. "Get what you need. I'll give you ten minutes. Can you do that?"

I nodded. I limped downstairs to the basement and hauled all my boxes up to the front door. Then I grabbed the box with my quilt and my unicorns and hurried back up to my bedroom. Noah was still against the wall, Remus still held him there. I quickly wrapped the rest of my unicorns and stuck them in the box.

"What about clothes?" Remus asked, glancing at me.

"I've got clothes," I said quickly over my shoulder. "I've been packing since that git brought me here."

Remus chuckled.

"Now, Jules, that's not-"

I looked up as Remus stopped talking. He'd been looking at me. Noah had sucker punched him in the side of the head. Remus staggered back, his hand clutching the side of his head. Noah, obviously thinking that he'd knocked Remus out, advanced on me. He yanked open the closet door and pulled out the gun that he'd shot at me with before.

"Noah-" I started. I heard a click as he slid the safety off. I backed away, my hands out in front of me. As if that would save me.

He didn't shoot me. He turned and pointed the gun at Remus instead. Remus glared at him, murder in his eyes, and started advancing.

"Come one step closer and I'm going to kill you," Noah said, aiming at Remus' heart. I stared at Noah. His face was white and he looked scared.

"Remus, please," I begged him. "Please stop."

"The way I figure it," Remus snarled. "You might have the time to get one shot off. One. It will take more than that to bring me down. And you won't be able to get a second off, because then I am going to kill you."

"Remus please! Just go. Let him have me, please, don't do this!" I knew I sounded like a lunatic. I didn't care. I wasn't going to have Remus die because of me.

I screamed as the gun went off. Remus growled and clutched his arm. Noah, scared out of his mind, had shot him in the arm as a warning.

Remus plunged his hand into his pocket. He brought out a long, narrow scrap of wood in it. He pointed it straight at Noah's chest.

"Oh, yes, I am afraid of the wooden thing," Noah snarled, raising the gun again.

"You should be," Remus said calmly. "_Stupefy!"_

I watched in shock as Noah fell back against the wall. He slowly slid down to the floor.

I stared at Noah. I looked up at Remus. He moved toward me. I backed away quickly, my hands up in front of me again. Remus stopped, though he looked like it was against his will.

"You killed him! How-how did you do that?" 

Remus put the thing in his hand back into his pocket. 

"He's not dead. He'll awake soon. We need to be gone before he does."

He frowned suddenly and pulled the thing back out of his pocket. He pointed it at Noah.

"_Obliviate,"_ he muttered. I looked at Noah. He merely looked like he was sleeping on the floor. I realised this with shock. I could hear him breathing.

"Oh, thank you thank you, he's not dead," I cried. "He's a bastard, but I don't want to go to jail for killing him!"

I turned back to Remus, gaping. 

"You're a wizard!" I gasped. "Why didn't you tell me? Magic exists? Are Harry and Hermione wizards?"

"Julianne, I know this is like a dream to find out that magic is real, but we really need to get out of here."

Remus picked up my box of unicorns and moved down to the front door. In a daze, I followed him.

"Where's your car?" I asked. "How did you get in? Noah's got the key."

"I don't need a key," he said quietly. "And I didn't bring the car. My way was faster."

He put the box on top of the others. There were just four in total. He looked at them a moment, as though deciding something. I longed to say something, but I thought that it better wait.

"Right," he said suddenly. "Okay, you don't have any of your toiletries here. Get a shoulder bag and put anything you need for day to day. Shampoo, conditioner, makeup, anything like that. I will be right back."  
I turned and hurried up the stairs. I heard a sharp _crack!_ as I grabbed my backpack. I quickly threw everything I needed into it. On impulse I grabbed Noah's stash of cash that he kept inside a pickle jar in the closet and tossed it in there too. Let the bastard suffer.

I limped back down the stairs. My ankle was starting swell a little. I figured it would when I'd hit it against the bedpost.

I stopped and stared. Remus stood there, but my boxes were gone.

"How-?"

"I'll explain letter. He'll be waking soon. Let's go, Jules."

"Okay," I said. Remus held his arms out and I stepped into them. He pulled me tight against him and I heard the same sharp _crack._

The world dissolved around us.

I stumbled as the room reappeared. But it wasn't the room in my house. We were back in the same hotel we'd been in when Noah had found me.

I gaped around. My boxes were there, stacked neatly against the wall by the door.

"I want to leave at dawn, Jules. He won't be able to get here that fast, but I'm not taking chances. I don't want him to find you again."

He paused and looked at me sadly.

"What is it?" I asked.

He shook his head and took my hand. He led me into the washroom.

I sighed at my reflection. My lip was split again, my eye swollen. I looked worse than I had when Remus had first picked me up.

"Jules-" Remus began. 

I turned to him slowly. An hour ago I'd thought I'd never see him again. Now I was back with him. And I'd found out that magic was real.

I reached up and kissed him. I cried out in pain as his lips touched my split lip.

"Damn," he muttered. "Jules, do you want me to try to heal that?"

"Can you do that?"

"Yes." He pulled the same bit of wood out of his pocket.

"What is that?" I asked.

He chuckled. "It's a magic wand."

He pointed it at me. I didn't hear the words he said, but I felt my lip heal. I felt the swelling in my face go down. 

He pointed it at my ankle and said the same words. I felt the swelling go down in it as well.

"Good. I'd hoped it wasn't broken. I can't heal broken bones very well."

I watched him work, watched how concerned he was. I ached to tell him what was in my heart. I wanted to tell him how I felt about him.

"Thank you, Remus," I said instead. "For rescuing me again."

"I don't want to have to do it again, Jules," he said softly. "But we can talk about that tomorrow."

He looked at me sadly again. He pointed the wand at me.

"I hate to do this, but I have to. You're a Muggle."

I stood up in fear. "I'm a what?"

"A Muggle. It won't hurt you, I swear. _Obliviate."_

"Jules."

__

No. Leave me alone. I was dreaming about Remus. 

"Jules, wake up."

He was shaking me. I growled for him to go away.

"We have to go, Julianne."

I rolled over, intent on coming up swinging. My eyes widened when I saw Remus.

"Remus," I breathed, flinging my arms around his neck. "Where did you come from?" I looked around. "How did I get here?"

He smiled. I thought I saw relief in his eyes. 

"Don't you remember, Jules? I came and got you."

I looked at him, trying to remember. 

"Remus, what happened to you?" I gasped as I noticed the bandage on his arm.

"Oh…it's nothing," he said.

Something clicked in my head. I remembered the gun going off.

"Noah shot you," I said. Remus stared at me. "I remember. But what happened after that?"

Remus didn't say anything, just continued to gape.

"Remus?"

"Oh. I think you fainted. I don't remember myself. I just know that we got away and flew back here."

It seemed like something was missing, but what did that matter? I was back with Remus and I was free of Noah.

"I just have to finish grabbing my things from the washroom," Remus said quietly. "I want to be gone within half an hour."

I nodded, watching as he moved into the washroom. Oh it was good to be back with him.

"What day is it?"

"Wednesday," Remus answered.

I nodded, though he couldn't see me. I stood and started gathering everything. I was putting Remus' clothes in his suitcase when I noticed something sticking out of one of the pockets of his jacket.

It was a long, narrow strip of highly polished wood. I frowned at it for a moment and then picked it up. It was more than a foot long and cylindrical in shape. It had what appeared to be a handle.

I smiled to myself and took the handle in my hand. I don't know why I did this.

I gasped as red and gold sparks shot out of the end of it. A warm feeling shot up my arm all the way into my very soul. I gave the thing in my hand a wave. Again, for no apparent reason other than it seemed right.

"What are you doing?" Remus asked sharply from behind me. Gasping, I dropped it into his suitcase.

"I'm sorry, Remus," I said shrilly. "I was trying to help and it was in your pocket. I couldn't help myself, I picked it up!"

He stared at me.

"But you-" he started. He shook his head as though trying to clear it. He crossed to me and picked up the wooden thing, slipping it into his own pocket. "You shouldn't touch this, Jules. It's dangerous."  
I smirked. "Dangerous? It's just a bit of wood."

He smiled at me. "Not everything is what it seems to be. Promise me you won't touch it again."

I giggled. "Okay Remus. I promise not to play with your magic wand anymore."

Magic wand? Now where had that come from? 

Remus stiffened. Then he nodded and continued to get ready.

Not long after, Remus had paid for the hotel and we were on our way. I snuggled against him in the front seat of the car. He smiled and gave my knee a squeeze.

"Where to now?" I asked.

He frowned. "I don't know. I have a feeling that I'm missing something. Something important."

*

It was nice travelling with Remus again. He tried to make the journey fun, even though I could tell that he was feeling strained about not finding what he was searching for. We'd pull over once in a while and just get out and walk. 

Now that I had my license with me, I could drive as well. Remus would stay awake while I did though, and talk to me. He'd also tell me to turn out of the blue. He was getting frustrated with the constant dead ends.

"She's still not eating, and she's always in bed," Remus was saying one day. He was driving and I was in my usual position, nestled against him. "At first, I thought it was okay, but now…she needs to grieve."

I nodded. "Maybe that is her way of grieving."

He sighed. "Maybe. I don't know. I know that people grieve differently, but I wish she'd…I don't know. Show some emotion. She hasn't even cried, other than at the funeral."

I wasn't sure what to say, so I kept quiet and allowed him to talk. Soon he'd changed the topic on to Harry.

"I spoke with the Headmaster, and he says that Harry is doing wonderfully in his classes. Not that that's a big surprise, but it's nice to see. Harry hasn't always been the best student. He'd rather be _doing_ rather than learning. I sometimes think that that the reason he and Ron even passed their classes is because of Hermione. You should see the notes she takes. I'm sure she could have taught _me_ how to teach my class."

I smiled. "What do you teach?"

His grin faltered. "Oh. Um…History."

I raised an eyebrow at him. "I never took um-History. Is it like regular History?"

Remus turned and looked at me. He poked me in the ribs. I laughed as he looked back at the road.

Every night we stayed at a roadside motel. Remus never bothered to ask for two beds anymore, which I found that I was okay with that. We were settling into a routine.

"I need a vacation from this," Remus announced about a week after he'd rescued me from Noah. "Let's stay here for a week."

"Okay," I agreed. It was a nice hotel, plus it had a pool and a hot tub.

"Okay good," he said with a grin. "I'll go get our things."

He would never let me help him carry my own things up. I found this somewhat frustrating, but he wouldn't listen to my protests.

We ate lunch at the hotel restaurant and went down to the pool for a bit. As we were sliding into the hot tub, Remus stood suddenly, a look of concern on his face. He glanced at his watch.

"What's wrong?" I asked, craning my neck back to look up at him.

"I just realised I forgot something. I'll be right back."

He turned on his heel and walked into the men's change room. I shrugged and sat back in the hot tub.

He was gone for about half an hour. I was just about to ask somebody to check for him in the changing room when he returned.

"Where have you been?" I demanded, not noticing that he looked as though he'd just swallowed something disgusting.

"I had to go up to the room for something and then the telephone rang, so I took longer than I expected. Sorry Jules." He slipped into the hot tub. I pouted at him a moment before moving back over to the pool

The next day we woke early and decided to go to the Zoo for the day. Remus ordered a picnic lunch from the restaurant. We got there early.

"I'm not sure if I like coming to the Zoo," Remus said later.

"Why not?"

"I don't know. It's a little depressing, isn't it? All these wild animals living in cages."

Again that concerned look came over his face. Again he glanced at his watch.

"Um, can you wait here?" he asked. "I'll be right back."  
"Okay," I said, slightly confused. I sat on the bench and waited.

He was gone nearly ten minutes this time. He came running back up to me, a grin on his face. He held up a small stuffed wolf for me.

He disappeared every day for a few minutes at a time after that. I was starting to get concerned. Was he getting sick and trying to hide it from me? I could understand him being shy in a normal relationship, but we didn't exactly have one of those. He'd seen me at my absolute worse.

Tuesday rolled around again and Remus announced that he hoped to leave the next morning. When he disappeared that day, I called down to the restaurant and ordered a romantic dinner for the two of us.

When Remus returned fifteen minutes later, he seemed edgy. He looked awful as well. He looked tired and pale.

"Are you getting sick, Remus?" I asked.

He looked at me in surprise.

"I think I might be," he answered. "Maybe I'll go see the hotel nurse tonight before we go to bed."

"I ordered dinner."

"Oh, I'm not really hungry," he said quietly. "I might go to bed early tonight."

He seemed on edge for the rest of the day. I finally told him that he was driving me crazy. 

"Go see the nurse already," I snapped, looking up from my book. It was raining and I had no desire to do anything.

He came over to me and kissed me suddenly. I stared up at him as he backed away.

"I don't know how long I'll be. Don't wait up for me if I'm not back until late."

He grabbed his jacket and left.

I got to eat the romantic dinner alone.

I waited for Remus to return until nearly midnight. I'd watched the moon rise earlier from our hotel window. Full moon tonight.

Finally I sighed and gave into the need for sleep. Before I went to bed, I turned on the light in the bathroom for Remus so he could find his way to the bed if and when he ever returned.

*  


"Oh, Remus you look awful," I said, shocked at his appearance.

"Thanks. You look wonderful," he groaned. He rolled carefully on to his back. There were dark circles under his eyes and he looked a lot thinner than usual.

"I didn't mean it like that," I whispered, crawling over to lay beside him. His skin felt hot all over. "Are you really sick?"

He coughed. "Not really. I'm just tired. It was…this morning before I got back. I have no idea what time." He smiled at me. "I feel like I went a round with that boyfriend of yours."

"Ex!" I reminded him, trying to smile back. His appearance scared me. I didn't want him to be sick. "Do you want me to call the nurse and have her come here?"

He shook his head carefully. "No, I'm alright. Just let me sleep a bit longer. I'll be ready to go later today."

I bit my lip but he was asleep before I could reply. I lay in beside him, gently running my fingers over his back. I slipped my arms around him and fell asleep against his back.

"Hi," Remus whispered when I opened my eyes again. I blinked.

"Hi." He had turned at some point and wrapped his arms around me and his leg was over my legs. I was effectively trapped. "What time is it?"

"No idea." He grinned at me. I flushed slightly and smiled back.

"I see you're feeling better," I remarked dryly. He chuckled.

"I told you I would. Although the idea of spending the rest of the day in bed is appealing," he added, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively at me. I laughed and gave him a little shove. He continued to leer at me. Then he sobered suddenly. "Did you lay with me the whole time?"

I nodded. He smiled and leaned in to kiss me.

"Okay," he said when we'd parted. "Do you want to stay here tonight and leave in the morning or leave now?"

"It doesn't matter to me Remus. I think you should have one more day of rest because you weren't looking good this morning and you still look a little peaky. But if you want to go now, we can go."

He looked at me. "You're helpful," he said, pretending to pout. I grinned at him.

"This is your road trip," I reminded him.

"Ah, yes." He sighed and closed his eyes again. "You're right. I am still tired. Let's stay here the night and leave in the morning."


	7. Still Searching

Harry Potter and his whole world belong to JK Rowling. I am borrowing a few characters from her. This is set in seventh year. It's a romance between Remus and a new character.

****

Still Searching

By the time Hallowe'en had rolled around, Remus was no closer to finding what he was searching for. He still wouldn't tell me what it was either.

We'd driven across Canada twice in that time. I didn't mind as I'd always wanted to travel the country, but it was starting to get tiring, being stuck in a car all day.

We'd taken another week's holiday in October and Remus had been sick again. I wasn't as concerned this time because I'd known that a good sleep would help him.

I managed to convince Remus to pick up a couple bags of candy, just in case we had some Trick or Treaters at the hotel.

"Do you know how long it's been since I've bought candy? I haven't had kids around on Hallowe'en for ages."

I stared at him. "Really? I love having the kids come around. I love the costumes. It's so…fun."

He chuckled. "At my school, we have pumpkins hanging from the ceiling and we have a wonderful feast every year. And we have live bats."

I grinned. "Live bats? I wouldn't be able to eat in there. Bats are scary."

Remus laughed at me. I pouted at him. He responded by leaning down and kissing my pouting lip.

It turned out that it was one of my better ideas. We had so many kids at the door that Remus had to run out and buy more candy. By the time he got back, the kids were dwindling, so we ended up eating most of it ourselves.

"Ugh," I moaned. "I feel gross. I ate way too much."

Remus laughed. "You still look good."

"Trust me, by tomorrow I'm going to have gained at least a hundred pounds."

"That's okay. I'll still love you."

I blinked at him in shock. Remus went pale.

"What?" I hadn't meant to say anything about it, but my mouth moved before I could get my brain stop it.

"I meant…I don't know what I meant." Remus wouldn't look at me. His face was still very pale. "I'm sorry."

I slid off the couch and crawled over to where he was sitting in front of the electric fire. I sat in front of him.

"It's okay, Remus. I understand what you mean, actually."

He looked up at me, his eyes tender. "Do you?"

I nodded. He pulled me into his lap and kissed me gently.

"I'm starting to dislike this car," Remus said, pulling into a gas station a few days later. "I want a truck."

I laughed. "You've been in cowboy country too long, Remus."

We were driving through Alberta now, where I had first met Remus. We'd been through twice now and this was our third trip. This time we were heading north to the Territories.

"Maybe," he agreed. "Let's go get a truck."

So we went to the airport where he'd rented the car from. Remus paid the bill for the car without batting an eye. Within an hour we were pulling out in a pickup truck. I couldn't help but chuckle.

"You best stop that," he warned me. I stuck my tongue out at him and continued to laugh. "Remind me when we get to the hotel tonight that I want to call Harry."

"Okay."

It was an hour after we arrived at the hotel before either of us remembered that he'd wanted to phone Harry. I still didn't like listening in to his conversations, so I went into the bathroom to have a soak in the Jacuzzi while he was on the phone. This was the first hotel we'd stayed at that had a Jacuzzi in the bathroom.

Remus came in a while later to join me. He looked somewhat troubled.

"Everything alright?"

"I don't know," he answered, sliding into the water. "Sirius is still in hospital. When I asked Harry last time how he was, he told me that he was gaining weight and that his arm was nearly healed. I don't understand why he would still be there."

I bit my lip. "Maybe he feels safe there."

"Maybe." Remus grinned suddenly. "I should get him to take over my classes until I get back. Harry says Severus is being awful to them all. He says that he's starting to hate his Def…um…History classes."

I frowned at him thoughtfully. That wasn't the first time that he'd suddenly changed what he was going to say.

"Is Sirius a teacher?"

"He could be." Remus tugged lightly on my hair. "I've known Sirius since I was eleven years old. He and Harry's dad were the cleverest people I ever knew. Well, except maybe for Hermione. I like this bathtub."

It took me a moment to even realise that he'd changed the subject. I burst out laughing.

"Okay," I said, giggling at him. He responded by splashing me in the face with water. I gasped as I got a mouthful. "Oh, so that's how you want to play!" I splashed him back.

Remus pulled the curtain around the Jacuzzi so we wouldn't splash the floor. He then sent a tidal wave of water at me. I shrieked and grabbed the shower head, turned the water on and blasted him with it. He responded to that by pushing my head under water.

I came up, choking and sputtering, laughing like crazy. He grinned down at me. Then he turned serious.

"Come to England with me for Christmas."

I stared at him, not really sure if it was a request or a joke.

"You mean it?" I asked, almost afraid of the answer.

He took my hands in his and looked at me seriously. "I mean it. Come to England with me for Christmas."

I stood abruptly, wrapping a towel around myself. Not sure why I was doing so, I left the washroom. I plopped myself on the bed and waited for Remus to come out.

He followed not long after, wearing a slight frown. I could see the hurt in his eyes, though he was trying not to show it.

"Okay…let me guess. You were getting wrinkled?" I could tell he was trying to make light of the fact that I'd just up and left him.

"Do you really mean that?" I asked again. Remus sat down and took my hands again.

"I really mean it. I want you to meet Sirius and everybody else. I know Harry and Hermione would love to see you again."

I don't know why I didn't say yes right away. I wanted to, but something held me back.

"But my aunt and uncle…I mean, they already asked me for Christmas."

Remus dropped my hands and took my chin in his hand.

"Why are you afraid to say yes? I can see in your eyes that you want to."

I tore my chin out of his hand and hopped off the bed. I started to pace.

"Do you think it wise that I be there for their first Christmas without their son? I would be intruding."

Remus stood and watched me pace. His eyes were very hurt now and he was frowning for real.

"If you don't want to, Julianne, just say no. It's okay, really."

"I want to say yes," I replied, stopping in front of him. He nodded.

"Then say yes."

"I can't!"

"Why?"

I growled in frustration and began pacing again. "I don't know."

Remus chuckled.

"You won't be intruding. I promise. Everyone wants to meet you."

I turned pale. "You mean everyone knows about me?"

"Well…yes. Molly and Arthur would have mentioned you, not to mention Harry and Hermione met you."

"Do they know about…I mean, do they know what Noah did to me?"

Remus frowned again. Since we'd been back together, we hadn't really spoken about my time back with Noah. I didn't want Remus to know. Just thinking about it made my skin crawl.

"They know he hit you," he answered quietly, his eyes flashing. He took a step toward me. I backed away, my hand out in front of me. He stopped and his eyes flashed again. "What is wrong, Julianne?"

"I…I want to go to England with you, Remus," I whispered, dropping my hand. Remus advanced on me again. "I don't know if I can."

"Why?" he asked, stopping right in front of me.

"Well, you haven't been back since the beginning of September. Your friends and family would want to spend time with you. I couldn't take away from that."

"Why are you making excuses?"

Good question. Why was I making excuses?

"I'm not!" I answered hotly. "I just told you I want to go to England."

"Then say you will."

"I can't!" I nearly yelled at him. He glared at me.

"Fine," he said angrily. "If you're too afraid to go, then don't go. I thought you might enjoy it, is all. Forget I asked."

He turned his back on me, grabbed his jacket, and stormed out of the room.

I growled in frustration and stormed back into the washroom. I stopped when I caught sight of myself in the mirror.

__

Why hadn't I said yes? What was holding me back? There wasn't anything here. I didn't go to my aunt and uncle's place for Christmas usually. They'd invited me when I'd spoken to them last week because they knew I didn't have anywhere else to go.

Why couldn't I go? For that matter, why _shouldn't_ I go? I wanted to meet his friends. I wanted to see Harry and Hermione again. I definitely wanted to meet Sirius Black. The stories that Remus had told me about him…

I realised that I was afraid. Afraid of getting hurt. Afraid that Remus wasn't really all that different from Noah. I shook my head.

"He's nothing like Noah," I told my reflection. "You don't have to be afraid of Remus. He won't hurt you."

I smiled at myself in the mirror. Yes, I wanted to go to England.

I pulled the robe from the closet and wrapped it around myself. I then sat on the bed to wait for Remus to come back. I waited for several hours. It didn't matter, I was waiting for him to come back, no matter how tired I got.

It was after 2 in the morning before he finally came back. I slipped off the bed as he moved to hang up his jacket. He turned and stopped at the sight of me. His eyes went blank, his face impassive.

"I thought you'd be in bed."

"I waited for you."

"Ah."

He turned back to the closet and kicked his shoes off. I took a tentative step toward him.

He didn't look at me as he moved into the room, pulling his shirt over his head as he did so. My mouth went dry as it usually did when he stood bare-chested in front of me.

"Was there a reason you waited?" he asked.

I nodded, watching as he undid the belt around his hips. I forced my gaze back up to his eyes.

"I'm sorry," I said softly. "I waited to tell you I'm sorry."

"I see. What are you sorry for?"

He wasn't going to make this easy.

"For not giving you an answer."

"To what?"

I frowned. His face was still impassive. He was still angry at me.

Okay, fine.

"I want to go to England with you."

"I know. But you 'can't'."

"Yes I can."

He snorted, removing his trousers and hanging them over a chair. 

"Well, maybe the invitation has been withdrawn," he said, his back to me.

I swallowed. I hadn't thought about that.

"Has it?" I whispered.

He turned to me, his eyes blazing. I gaped at him, unconsciously backing away. He snorted again. I lifted my chin and glared at him.

"What if it has?"

I bit my lip. "I don't think it has."

He growled and took a step toward me. I didn't know whether he wanted to kiss me or kill me. Maybe both. I made myself stay where I was.

"No? Why is that?"

"Because you aren't one to withdraw an offer like that. I realise now that you wouldn't have made that offer lightly."

He laughed as he advanced toward me. I started to tremble.

"Smart girl."

"Has it been withdrawn?" I demanded, backing away from him now. He growled again and continued to follow me.

"I haven't decided."

"Well, if it hasn't been, I want to go. I want to meet your friends and I want to see Harry and Hermione again."

"Right."

My back hit the wall. I stood there and stared at Remus. His eyes were still blazing with anger.

"Why did you say no?" he demanded, still advancing on me.

"I didn't, not really," I answered truthfully.

"Okay. Why didn't you say yes?"

He had caught up with me. He didn't stop, merely lifted me off the floor, crushing his mouth to mine. I whimpered and kissed him back, my fingers already in his hair. I could taste wine on his lips.

"You were drinking," I accused in a breathless whisper when he pulled his mouth away from mine. He slid his hands under my bottom. I wound my legs around his hips as he kissed me again.

This one wasn't nearly as savage as the last one had been. He kissed me gently, softly. One of his hands came up between us and started to untie my robe.

"Are you going to England with me then?" he asked, his voice hoarse.

"Yes," I answered. "I'm going to England with you."

He growled softly and kissed me again. We didn't talk much after that. His boxers soon joined my robe on the floor.

*

We both knew as soon as we awoke the next day that something had changed between us. I wasn't sure what it was, but it was something. 

On Friday, Remus disappeared for a while again. I didn't think anything of it this time. We were staying at a hotel for the week because Remus felt he needed some time off again.

By the following Friday, Remus was pale and edgy once more. I watched him, concerned, as he paced the room.

"Remus, what is going on?"

"Nothing," he snapped, turning toward me. "I don't feel well is all."

"Maybe it's the weather?" It had started to snow that day and the wind was howling like crazy. Just looking out the window chilled me to the bone.

"It's not the weather, although that's ghastly."

He continued to pace.

"You should be careful, you might wear a hole in the floor," I joked, trying to make him smile.

"Funny," he said with a snort. He didn't stop pacing.

"Does this hotel have a doctor or a nurse on staff?"

"I don't know, Jules," he answered exasperatedly. "I didn't ask. I didn't _intend_ on being sick today."

"Why do you pace when you're sick?"  


"I don't know, it's just something I've always done. Why do you ask questions about everything?"

I smiled. "I don't know, it's just something I've always done."

We ordered dinner in the room that night and were just starting to eat when Remus suddenly gasped, jumped up and ran from the room. There was that same _crack_ I'd heard in the other hotels. I jumped up to follow him. There was no sign of him in the hall.

I assumed that he'd gone down to see if there was a doctor in the hotel, so I went down to the front desk to ask where the doctor was.

"Yes, we have a doctor in the building, but nobody has been to see him this evening," the lady at the desk told me. I thanked her and went back up to the room, frowning.

If Remus wasn't going to the doctor, where _was_ he going?

I sighed and sat in the chairs facing the window and looked outside. Full moon.

I gasped and sat forward. Full moon? It had been a full moon the first time Remus had been ill in September. Come to think of it, I was pretty certain it had been a full moon in October as well.

The scene with Harry in the car came back to me in a rush. Harry getting angry with me when I'd made the comment about werewolves being evil.

I'd wondered then why he had been so passionate about it. 

Could Remus be one?

As soon as I thought this, I laughed at myself. Werewolves didn't exist. They were a fictional being. 

I sat down on the bed and pulled my book out, intent on waiting for him. I must have fallen asleep not long after that, because I awoke early the next morning, my book on my chest and the light still blazing in my eyes. Remus hadn't returned. I glanced outside at the still black sky. Where could he be?

I started to pace the room, determined to wait for him to come back. I watched the moon go down and the sun start to rise. About an hour later, the door opened slowly and Remus stumbled into the room. I cried out as he nearly fell. I rushed forward to help him.

"What are you doing up?" he asked softly.

"I…waiting for you," I answered. I tucked his arm over my shoulder and he leaned on me as we moved toward the bed. "Where did you go? What happened to you?"

There was a long scratch along the side of his face. I went to get a cloth while he undressed. I gaped at the scrapes all over his torso.

"God, Remus what happened?" I wailed, gently wiping blood from his cheek and from his torso. He winced a couple times but didn't complain

"Can't remember," he grunted. "I felt like I was…I don't know…coming out of my skin, so I was going down to see if there was a doctor in the building. I was in the elevator and can't remember much else."

I watched him as he told this. Was it my imagination, or was he avoiding looking me in the eye?

He groaned as he lay down. He was so pale and it looked like he didn't fit properly inside his own skin. I nearly cried as I covered him with blankets.

"Lay with me?" he asked softly, patting the bed beside him feebly.

I didn't say anything, just lay beside him. I was afraid of hurting him, but he must have found my presence comforting because he was asleep within minutes.

I watched him sleep for a while, watched the expressions flit across his face. He seemed to be having a dream that wasn't overly pleasant. He frowned a lot and muttered angrily in his sleep.

After Remus had slept, he insisted that he wanted to get on the road, even though I pointed out that it wouldn't hurt to stay the night. He won, so we were back in the truck by lunchtime.

"I spoke to Harry yesterday, remember? They need me to find what I'm looking for."

I nodded as he reminded me of this. There wasn't really much else for me to say on that subject.

"They're looking forward to having us for Christmas. Harry said that Molly has already started cleaning."

I gaped at him. "It's only the middle of November!"

He chuckled. "I know."

We stopped early that night because Remus still wasn't feeling all that great. I helped him into the motel room and ordered dinner for us as he stretched out on the bed. I sat at his feet, rubbing them slowly as we made plans for Christmas shopping. I confessed that I had no idea what to get for anybody.

"You don't really have to get anything," Remus pointed out.

"I would feel strange if I showed up with no gifts," I answered. "Maybe just like a bottle of wine or something for Mr and Mrs Weasley…oh Remus, I don't know."

He smiled. "It's alright, Jules. I can help you."

"Thank you, Remus," I said, smiling back. Dinner arrived then, so that topic was soon dropped.

*

Over the next couple weeks, we travelled from town to town, searching for whatever Remus was searching for. A few times we stopped at stores and I bought several gifts for my soon to be hosts. Remus helped me on several things. A couple times I found myself in stores that I never would have gone into had Remus not been there. I wasn't sure that people would like the things I bought, but Remus assured me they would and, seeing as they were his friends, I decided to trust him.

I had no idea what to buy Remus for Christmas. He needed some warm clothing that was for sure. He had sweaters and things, but he still found the cold Canadian weather a bit _too_ cold. I bought him several wool sweaters and several pairs of wool socks. When I was buying the socks I noticed a pair of long wool underwear hanging on a rack nearby. I grinned to myself, imagining Remus opening them on Christmas morning. 

Remus was being very sneaky. He kept asking me what I would like for Christmas. I kept telling him that he didn't have to get me anything, so he would sneak into stores while I was doing my shopping, then come back with a secretive sort of smile on his face. It was driving me crazy!

He was sick again around the middle of the month. Again he disappeared for the night and was back before I had awoken. 

We booked our flights to London out of Calgary for December twenty-second. As the day approached, I found myself getting more and more nervous. I wanted to meet his friends, but I wasn't sure they would like me. What if they thought I was too much of a distraction for Remus? I didn't mean to keep him from his search, but he wouldn't let me help him.

This crazy thought kept popping into my head as we spent our last night in the hotel before making for the airport. I was in the washroom brushing my teeth when Remus popped his head around the door.

"Can you come out here? I want to give you a gift early."

Curious, I finished brushing my teeth and went into the main room. Remus had a large parcel in front of him and he looked pleased with himself.

"What's this?" I asked carefully, sitting down on the bed beside him. He grinned and put the parcel in my hands.

"Open it and find out."

Glancing at him out of the corner of my eye, I opened the gold and scarlet package. I held up what was inside.

"Oh," I breathed. "It's beautiful."

But what was it?

Remus grinned sheepishly.

"You have no idea what it is."

I laughed, a flush spreading across my cheeks. Remus grinned at me and stood up. He took the material from me and slipped it around my shoulders.

"It's a cloak," he explained. "In those books that you love so much, it always describes people as wearing cloaks, or travelling cloaks, et cetera. I thought you might like a cloak."

I gasped as I looked at myself in the mirror. Of course it was a cloak, how could I have been so stupid? 

I wrapped it closer around myself and studied it in the mirror. It was made of midnight blue wool. Three small silver clasps adorned the front of it. I smiled at my reflection. It was warmer than any winter coat I'd ever owned.

I turned to Remus, who was looking at me somewhat nervously.

"I love it, Remus," I said breathlessly. "It's absolutely perfect."

He grinned at me and held up a second cloak. This one was obviously a man's cloak.

"I got myself one as well," he explained with a shy grin. My smile widened as I helped him put it on.

"We look like a witch and wizard," I said with a chuckle. I didn't notice Remus' smile freeze a little. He leaned down and kissed my cheek. I smiled and leaned back against his chest.

"We actually wear these in England," he said quietly. "They're quite warm. So if you see somebody wearing a cloak when we're at the Weasleys, don't think anything of it."

"Okay."

I carefully hanged my cloak in the closet and stood back to look at it for a minute. Then I turned and gave Remus a kiss.

"Thank you, Remus," I said with a smile as he dazedly hung up his own cloak.

*

"Calm down, Julianne," Remus said, leaning over and taking my hand with his. I suppose watching me twist my fingers together must have been driving him crazy.

"I'm sorry, Remus," I said nervously, turning to him. "I'm just nervous is all. I hate to confess this, but I don't really like flying. And I'm scared that your friends won't like me."

Remus smiled. "They will," he assured me. "As for flying, I'm not fond of it either. Actually, the actual in the air part doesn't bother me. It's the taking off and the landing that I don't like."

"Me either," I agreed.

We were less than an hour out of London. I'd closed my window shade because looking out at the ocean had started to make me somewhat nauseous. I couldn't watch the movie being played because I couldn't concentrate. Remus had finally taken my book away when I'd nearly twisted it in half out of nerves.

Remus stood up suddenly and pulled my new cloak out of the overhead compartment. He wrapped mine around me. I realised that I'd been shivering so hard that my teeth were chattering.

"Oh," I said in surprise when he pulled it over me. "Thank you."

He laughed softly but said nothing. He continued to hold my hand until the plane finally landed.

As soon as we walked out into the terminal, I saw Harry and Hermione waving at us. Hermione let out a squeal when she saw us.

"She came!"

I stopped dead in my tracks. She was that happy to see _me?_

Harry and Hermione rushed forward, a man around Remus' age and two red heads on their heels. Hermione wrapped her arms around me before I could even say hello.

"It's so good to see you, Julianne!" she announced as soon as she stepped back. "We wondered if you would be coming. I love your cloak!"  
She turned to Remus and gave him a hug. Harry grinned at me and wrapped his arms around me as well.

"It's nice to see you again," he said softly, kissing me on the cheek. He then wrapped his arm over my shoulder and turned to the other three. "Right, Julianne. This is Sirius, Ron and Ginny. You lot, this is Julianne."

He pointed to each as he said their names. Sirius turned out to be the man around Remus age. I tried not to stare at his skeletal appearance and hoped I'd done a good job. He had obviously been extraordinarily handsome at one point, but his current weight didn't show that. He had longish dark brown hair and pale blue eyes. He shook my hand warmly.

"So this is the young lady that's stolen Remus from us," he said with a smile. His eyes had a haunted look to them. It nearly broke my heart.

"Remus is my white knight," I said to him shyly. "He rescued me so many times, it's hard to count."

Sirius smiled at that. "White knight, eh, Moony?" 

Remus flushed and took a half-hearted swipe at Sirius.

Ron turned out to be the tall, handsome red head. He stood nearly a foot taller than I. He wrapped his arms around me. Somewhat surprised, I returned the hug.

"It's nice to meet you at last," he said warmly. "Harry and Hermione spoke of nobody else for several days. It was a bit annoying, really."

I laughed at that.

Ginny was obviously Ron's sister. She was the same height as Harry and had long glorious red hair. Ginny was absolutely stunning. She smiled warmly at me before giving me a shy hug.

"Ron said everything that I meant to," she said with a smile. "It _is_ good to meet you finally."

Well, if this was what all the Weasleys were like, meeting the rest of them would be a piece of cake!

"How are we getting to the burrow?" Remus asked Sirius quietly after we'd picked up our luggage and had made our way to the parking lot. Sirius grinned at him.

"I rented a car."

Remus stared sceptically at Sirius. I had no idea what the burrow was or why we were going there.

"I'll drive," Remus said with a chuckle. "I've driven with you before. You're too scary."

Sirius pretended to pout, but handed the keys to Remus. I slid into the back of the car with Hermione and Harry. Sirius slid in next to me.

"This car is bigger than it looks," I commented.

I didn't see the look that Sirius, Harry and Hermione shared. I was too busy looking at Remus, who had grinned at me in the rear view mirror.

"Everyone in? Right. On to the burrow!"


	8. The Burrow

Harry Potter and his whole world belong to JK Rowling. I am borrowing a few characters from her. 

****

The Burrow

The trip seemed to take a while. I fell asleep against Harry's shoulder at some point and woke up when he shook me gently. I found myself staring at the neatest house I'd ever seen in my life. It occurred to me that _this_ was the Burrow. 

How it was standing, I had no idea. It looked as though it had started off as a one floor shack but had been added to over the years. It now had at least four floors and each one was off centre from the one below it. I stared at it in amazement before following everyone else.

I looked around the yard as I followed Sirius. I could see a few chickens pecking the ground, an orange and white tabby cat chasing what I assumed was a mouse around the yard, and several pairs of rubber boots laying all over the front porch. I was afraid to step on the porch because it looked like it might collapse. Everyone else thundered across it without a second thought, so I followed.

I gaped as I went through the door. It was small, but very clean and well organised. Directly in front of me was the most beautiful grandfather clock I'd ever seen. My Nannie would have loved it.

Remus took my hand and led me into the living room. Sitting around an enormous Christmas tree were the Weasleys. Every single one of them had vivid red hair.

"You're here, Remus!" A man who I figured was Ron and Ginny's father leapt from his chair and walked toward us, his hand extended. He grasped Remus' hand warmly. "You must be Julianne." He turned to me, his hand still extended. I took it and smiled up at him. He was very tall, very thin and was going bald. I adored him as soon as I laid eyes on him.

"It's nice to meet you, Mr Weasley," I said with a smile. 

"Please, it's Arthur."

"Okay, Arthur. Thank you for inviting me." 

Arthur nodded at me, smiling, before turning back to Remus. They were soon deep in discussion. I thought I caught a couple of words. "Bewitched" and "Muggle". I'd heard the term Muggle before, but still had no idea what it was.

I noticed who I assumed to be Mrs Weasley raise herself from her chair and make her way over to us. She was plump and had red hair that was starting to slowly turn grey. She was even shorter than I. As she got nearer, I noticed that her eyes had a tired, haunted look to them. She smiled at me.

"Hello, Julianne. It's wonderful to finally meet the young lady who has so thoroughly bewitched our Remus." 

She pulled me into a hug before I could respond. I hugged her warmly back.

"Thank you, Mrs Weasley," I answered as she released me. "Thank you for having me."

"It's Molly, dear," she corrected me. "I wanted to thank you for the beautiful flowers that you sent with Remus when he came here in September. I meant to ow…er…send a message by post to you before, but I didn't have an address where I could reach you."

I wasn't really sure how to respond. How did you say you're welcome to someone who thanked you for sending flowers to them after their son died?

"I-Well, I know it wasn't much," I said quietly. "I'm sorry about your son."

Molly nodded, her eyes sad but dry. "Yes, it was a surprise. It hasn't been an easy time so far."

I nodded sympathetically. "I know. If there's anything I can do…"

She smiled as she shook her head. "Just enjoy your visit dear. That's all I ask. Have a good time."

She left me then, turning to say hello to Remus.

I turned to face the remaining Weasleys. Four men, all of them older than Ron. How on earth had they managed with seven children, six of them boys?

I flushed as I looked around. Three of the four men were staring at me, jaws slightly open. I wondered briefly if I had something on my face. The one who wasn't staring at me shook his head at his brothers and jumped up. He had thick hair pulled back into a pony tail and an earring that looked like a fang. This must be Bill.

"Hi," he said with a smile. I smiled back at him. "I'm Bill. I'm the oldest Weasley sibling." He put an arm around my shoulder and turned me to face his brothers. "That big git there with his mouth hanging open is Charlie. He's the second oldest. Those twin gits there with their mouths hanging open are Fred and George. You've met Ron and Ginny already?"  
I nodded, chuckling softly. Bill grinned at me and led me over to the couch where he and Charlie had been sitting.

"Remus will be occupied for a while. Come and sit with us."

I sat between them, a little uncomfortable. Ron, Ginny, Harry and Hermione wandered over to us. I glanced up to find Remus looking my way. He smiled at me and went back to his discussion. Sirius plopped down beside Harry and grinned at me.

"You were right about one thing, Harry," he said in a mock whisper. "She's gorgeous."

I've never turned a darker shade of red in my life, I'm sure. I wasn't the only one. You could have fried an egg on Harry's face.

Sirius grinned at me. I could see that he was a charmer. Well, his charm wasn't something I found endearing. Noah had oodles of charm and charisma too.

"So exactly how did you meet Remus?"

I tilted my head to study Sirius. Surely Remus had told him?

"I jumped in front of his car," I answered honestly.

Bill, Charlie and the twins had obviously never heard this. They all looked at me in surprise. Sirius didn't look too surprised.

"Why is that?"

I flushed. No way was I telling them why!

"I needed a ride."

"How come?"

I grinned at him. "Because I didn't have a car."

Hermione smiled at me, her eyes twinkling. I saw Harry grin at Ginny, who was looking at me with a look of concern on her pretty face.

"You needed a ride, so you jumped in front of a car. You must have needed a ride pretty bad."

I sighed. "You have no idea. I just…needed to get out of where I was. Remus was kind enough to pick me up." I smiled. "He probably saved my life."

"Saved your life?" one of the twins piped up. "From what?"

"Or who?" the other twin growled. 

"Several things, really. Coyotes, wolves, cars and my ex boyfriend."

I saw Sirius' eyes darken angrily, but there was still no sign of surprise on his face.

"Ex boyfriend?"

Ginny, however, was staring at me in shock. She reached down and took Harry's hand.

"You never said that it was her boyfriend who had hit her."

"He _hit_ you?" one of the twins demanded, his ears turning red.

"Well-" I started. 

"Beat her up is more like it, Fred," Harry answered, his emerald eyes blazing. "When we met her, her eye was swollen and her lip was cut and she was afraid of me."

I flushed again, feeling their pity wash over me.

"Please," I said quietly. "It's not something I want to talk about. It's in the past. Yes, he hit me. He hit me and so I ran away from my own house. But it's over. Remus saved me and has continued to do so every day since. I owe him my life."

Everyone stared at me when I finished speaking, including Molly, Arthur and Remus. I turned red again and looked down at my hands.

"Is this your first time to England?" Charlie asked gently, changing the subject. I looked at him gratefully. He nodded that he understood.

"Yes. I've always wanted to come to England. I think both of my parents families were from here, so I've always been fascinated. My grandmother always had a slight accent."

I glanced around at them all and found Sirius watching me, his eyes slightly narrowed. I decided to just ignore him. He didn't have to like me. 

"Is anybody hungry?" Molly asked a bit later, standing at the door into the kitchen. Nearly everyone answered in the affirmative so she smiled and went into the kitchen. I jumped up, intent on helping if I could. Molly was back at the door before I could ask. 

"Oh, don't worry about it, dear. Just stay in here and continue chatting." 

She then went back into the kitchen. I stared at the back of her head, somewhat surprised. I shrugged and turned back. Remus had snuck up behind me while I'd been standing there.

"She's territorial about her kitchen," he said with a grin. "Harry says that she threw potatoes at him and Ron a few years ago."

I chuckled, imagining that subdued woman throwing potatoes.

Dinner was ready in an amazingly short amount of time. I gaped at the amount of food that she'd cooked in that time. There had to be three different kinds of potatoes alone. How on earth had she done that?

"Mmm," Ron said, his mouth full. "Goofoomum."

"Don't talk with your mouth full," Molly said sternly. Hermione just shook her head.

"Sir Nicolas still refuses to speak to him, you know that?" she said to the twins, Fred and George. They both chuckled. I longed to ask who Sir Nicolas was, but my own mouth was full and I thought I'd better be on good behaviour for the first bit at least. By the time I'd swallowed, the topic had been changed so many times, I had no idea what we were talking about. I realised after a moment that we were talking about Remus' school.

"So, since Sirius took over your classes, Remus, things have calmed down and people have stopped with the…um…going off sick," Ron was saying. He glanced my way and flushed slightly. "It's strange to call him Professor Black though."

Harry laughed. "You should have _seen_ everybody's face when Sirius stood up in front of the class. I thought Parvati was going to faint." He grinned nastily. "I would have loved to seen Malfoy's face."

Remus shook his head. Sirius merely smiled.

"I think you should start being a bit nicer to Draco Malfoy," Mrs Weasley said quietly. "He did recently lose his father after all."

Ron stared at his mother. "Mum, his father tried to-"

"Shut up Ron!" Ginny hissed. I saw Ron wince and I figured she'd kicked him under the table.

"I bet Severus was happy to see Sirius taking my classes," Remus said quickly.

Sirius choked on his drink, something they'd told me was butterbeer. I'd never heard of it. Remus had poured me a goblet, but I hadn't tasted any yet. Harry grinned at Sirius.

"We almost thought that Snape was going to kill Sirius right in front of the entire school." Harry grinned that nasty grin again. "I would have loved to see him try."

Sirius chuckled. "Harry, don't be mean."

"I bet you're finding things better, since you've been given your pardon from the Ministry," Remus said to Sirius, smiling down the table at Arthur. Arthur smiled back.

"You don't know how different it is. You don't know what it's like, Remus," Sirius said softly, the haunted look returning to his eyes. "People still look at me strange though…like I'm a monster. You really have no idea."  
Remus said nothing, merely stared at Sirius, his eyebrows raised and a slight smirk on his face. Sirius shook his head and clapped a hand to his forehead.

"What am I saying, of course you know."

How? I wanted to ask. For once, I held my tongue. Molly cleared her throat, glancing in my direction. I sighed in frustration, stabbing a potato on my fork. I wished everyone would quit censoring themselves around me. I wasn't going to die from shock.

The topic changed again and again. I didn't join in, mainly because I didn't really know what they were talking about, also because I was feeling a little shy around them. All of them were outspoken, exuberant people, whereas I never have been. The only ones who didn't say a whole lot were Remus and Harry. Remus was content to listen as he ate, making comments here and there. Harry barely said a word. 

Molly ushered us all out of the kitchen when we finished. Hermione and Ginny remained behind to help clean up. I tried to, but they made me leave. Sighing, I plopped down on the couch. Remus sat next to me and took my hand.

"What's wrong?" he asked quietly. I looked up at him and then rested my head on his shoulder.

"Nothing," I answered. "Molly won't let me help."

Remus chuckled. "I told you, she's territorial. She lets Ginny help her because Ginny is her daughter. And she knows Hermione. She doesn't know you. Give her time."

I smiled up at Remus, snuggling a bit closer to him. He slipped his other arm around my shoulders.

"Are you tired?" he asked me, resting his chin on the top of my head.

"A little," I answered. "Jet lag?"

"I guess so. Molly has got us set up in Charlie's room."

"Okay."

I looked around at everyone. Harry and Ron were playing chess in the corner while Fred and George watched. Arthur, Bill and Charlie were deep in discussion in front of the fire place. Sirius was watching Remus and I, his face expressionless. 

I tried to like Sirius, I really did. But his scrutiny bothered me. Plus he didn't really seem to like me, though I'd done nothing to him.

I didn't dislike him, really. Remus had said he'd been a prisoner of war, plus had been in prison for years for a crime he had not committed. Those experiences had to change a person, and not for the better.

Sirius stood abruptly and walked toward Remus and I.

"Moony, come for a walk with me."

Remus raised an eyebrow at Sirius, then looked at me.

"I'll be back in a bit," he said, standing up to join Sirius.

Moony? Interesting.

I sat on the couch, feeling increasingly uncomfortable. Harry and Hermione were both busy, so that didn't leave anybody that I knew. Not to mention that everyone else were in their own groups.

I felt like such an outsider.

Hermione came into the room, Ginny at her side.

"Did everybody leave you?" she asked. I nodded, smiling sheepishly.

"I brushed my teeth this morning and everything."

Hermione grinned at me, then plopped down beside me. Ginny sat on my other side.

"We were having a discussion. What is Remus' scent?"

I blinked at them in surprise. "Excuse me?"

"He has a scent to him. It's amazingly…I don't know what." Hermione grinned, her cheeks flushed and her eyes sparkling. "We thought that you could identify it. I want to give Ron some, because Remus smells _incredible_."

Hmm, that he did.

"And I want to give Harry some," Ginny said, her cheeks also flushed.

"I don't know what it is," I said honestly. "I bought him some cologne for Christmas that I thought smelled nice, but it's nowhere near as nice as whatever Remus wears. I stood there for an hour smelling everything."

Hermione and Ginny giggled. I smiled into my goblet that I'd brought with me from the kitchen. I still hadn't tasted my butterbeer. I took a sip.

"Oh, wow," I said. "That is incredible."

It really warmed you up, butterbeer. And it tasted like a slice of heaven.

"Okay. Remus' scent." I bit my lip, trying to identify it. "Leather."  
"Yeah, we got that," Ginny said with a grin.

"Fresh cut grass."

"That too."

I smiled, still thinking. "Fresh air. The wind blowing by the window on a summer day."

Hermione smiled. "That is a nice scent."

"Mountains and pine trees," I continued, on a roll now. "The ocean. Rain and snow. He smells like all my favourite things."

I sighed and wrapped my arms around my knees. 

"I'm not sure it comes in a bottle," I admitted. Ginny and Hermione exchanged a smile. I glared at them both. "What was that look?"

Hermione grinned at me. "Understanding."

Ginny smiled also. "We know how you feel."

I tilted my head to the side. "How do I feel?"

"Like you're flying and you have no fear of falling, because you know Remus is there," Hermione said slowly.

"Like you're living every moment for his smile," Ginny said, smiling herself.

"You're in love," they whispered together.

I gaped at them. "Me? I'm not-" I stopped. I stared at them. "I can't be…I hardly know Remus."

Ginny smirked at me. "Just _how_ well do you know him?" she asked, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively. I couldn't help it, I had to laugh. Hermione hit her with a pillow.

"I swear, Gin, sometimes you are so much like your brother!"

"Don't insult my sister like that!" one of the twins called from the other side of the room. "I'll have you know she's _nothing _like Charlie!"

"Hey!" Charlie said indignantly. "Maybe she meant Bill!"

"Or Fred!" Bill chimed in.

"Or George!" cried the twin who must have been Fred.

"She meant Ron, you prat!" George said, taking a swipe at his twin. "She's not snogging any of us, is she!"

Hermione turned a brilliant shade of scarlet and buried her face in her hands. Ginny chucked the pillow that Hermione had hit her with at her brother. Ron, I noticed, was nearly as red as Hermione but wore a goofy grin on his face.

"Snogging?" I whispered. Ginny and Hermione just grinned at me. I made a mental note to ask Remus later. 

The commotion died down and Hermione turned back to me.

"So you never answered Ginny's question," she said with a grin.

"Oh!" Ginny yelped. "It's okay for _you!_"

I laughed. They were obviously very good friends.

"I know him well enough and we'll leave it at that," I answered with a laugh. Ginny leaned toward me, wearing a sly grin.

"Does he smell that good when he's not wearing any clothes?"

"_Ginny!"_ Hermione yelped, giving her friend a shove. "That's vulgar!"

"And I plead the fifth on that," I answered with a laugh.

"Damn," said a voice from above us. "And I so wanted to know the answer."

Hermione and Ginny stared at me, eyes wide with horror, and the smiles slowly fading from both of their faces. I stared back at them so I wouldn't have to look up. It hadn't been Remus who had spoken. 

Slowly I moved my gaze from the two girls up into the highly amused eyes of Sirius Black and Remus.

"Enjoy your walk?" I asked innocently, trying to pretend that my face wasn't burning with embarrassment.

"Not as much as you enjoyed your talk, I bet," Sirius answered. "I want to know the answer."

Ginny and Hermione stared up at Sirius, both forgetting their embarrassment. Remus glanced at them and they turned scarlet again. Feigning an interest in the chess game, both girls went off to watch, leaving me to face the two men.

"Why?" I asked as Sirius swung a leg over the back of the couch and dropped down in front of me. Remus came around the couch and sat down on it from the front.

"I'm quite curious to know the answer myself," Remus deadpanned. I glared at him, wanting to hit him for ganging up on me with Sirius.

"You should already know the answer," I said, sticking my tongue out at him.

"Moony, I must say that it's a bit troubling that your students know whether you smell good or bad."

"Padfoot, you git, they've had to stand close to me before, haven't they. But yes, it is a bit disconcerting to know."

Sirius snorted. "Did you know that both Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown find you 'hot'?"

Remus turned even redder than I had. "Good lord," he gasped. I burst out laughing. That wasn't smart because it turned Sirius' attention back to me.

"So, Miss Julianne, answer the question. Does Remus smell nice when he's not wearing any clothes?"

I flushed with embarrassment. Sirius hadn't really bothered to keep his voice down. I saw Ginny and Hermione glance over at me, both looking apologetic. I could see the twins shaking as they determinedly avoided my gaze. Harry and Ron were blocked from my view. Arthur, Bill and Charlie had, thankfully, not caught the question.

"I already told the girls, I plead the fifth."

"Ah, see, that doesn't work with me," Sirius said with a charming smile. "I'm relentless."

"He's serious," Remus said, his face a mask. Sirius groaned.

"Bad, Moony, very bad."

I had to agree.

"Now, my dear, answer the question, or I'm going to shout it out for everyone to hear!" Sirius threatened with a grin. I looked at Remus for help, but he merely shrugged, grinning sheepishly at me.

He wanted to know my answer!

I glared at the both of them and clamped my lips together. They were getting nothing from me.

Sirius grinned at me wickedly. He drew a deep breath, and before I could do a thing, bellowed.

"Does Remus-"

The sentence was never finished though, because Remus suddenly clapped his hand over Sirius' mouth. Everyone stared at us. I wanted the floor to open around me.

"Shut up, Sirius!" Remus growled, his eyes sparkling with laughter. "Stop embarrassing her!"

Sirius glared at Remus. Remus jerked his hand back.

"You bit me!"

Sirius grinned. He stared at me expectantly.

"Okay okay," I said, admitting defeat. "Maybe."

I couldn't just up and tell him, not in front of Remus.

"Maybe. Well, that's something."

At that moment I was saved from further questioning by an orange and white streak. The cat I'd seen earlier came tearing in through the door, circled the room twice and tore halfway up the Christmas tree before landing with a _thud_ in my lap. I gasped in surprise as he curled his tail around his paws demurely and stared up at me with his yellow eyes. Everyone in the room burst out laughing.

It had to be the ugliest animal I'd ever seen in my life. He was larger than any cat I'd ever seen and his nose was pushed in, as though he'd hit a wall at a high speed. His fur was very soft, but he was very bowlegged and his tail was skinny, but for a large tuft at the end.

In fact, he was so ugly, he was positively adorable.

"Hello, gorgeous," I said softly, rubbing under his chin. "Where did you come from?"

"That cat is mad," Ginny giggled. "He's Hermione's."

Hermione's cat blinked at me and I heard him begin to purr. I continued to pet him.

"His name's Crookshanks," Hermione told me with a grin. "I'm surprised he came to you. Usually if Sirius is around he won't go to anybody else."

Sirius grinned at me, reached over and stroked Crookshanks' back. The cat was positively in his element.

Everyone eventually went back to what they'd been doing, meaning that Remus, Sirius and I were out of the spotlight again. I sighed and leaned back against Remus.

"What does snogging mean?" I asked suddenly.

Sirius stared at me. Crookshanks yowled at him and leapt off my lap. He hissed and Sirius realised that he had the cat's tail in a death grip. He let it go as I felt Remus start to laugh against my back.

"Does it mean something bad?" I asked, feeling my face heat up. "I hope I didn't just swear or something."  
Sirius started to laugh as well. My face burned more. I reached behind myself and pinched Remus hard. He let out a yelp, but went back to laughing right after.

"Well, stop laughing at me and tell me then!" I demanded, crossing my arms.

"I'm sorry," Sirius gasped. Remus was still laughing to hard. "You just surprised me is all. I can't speak for that prat."

I continued to pout. It took Remus another moment to get himself under control.

"Well? What does it mean?"

"Um…" Sirius said, grinning slightly. "Well, maybe Remus should tell you."

Remus caught me under the chin and turned my face slightly, kissing me deeply. I stared at him in surprise and a little uncomfortably. Sirius was grinning at us and didn't look uncomfortable at all.

"Okay…" I said slowly. Remus chuckled again.

"That's snogging."

"Ohh," I said, finally understanding. "It means kissing."

Sirius chuckled. "Sort of. More…making out than kissing."

I flushed again. Sirius grinned at me then turned to Remus.

"Have you been having any luck, Moony?" he asked. "Do you think you're getting closer at all?"

I leaned back against Remus again and closed my eyes. I heard him answer no but I didn't hear much after that. I drifted off to sleep.

I didn't wake when Remus lifted me into his arms and carefully carried me up the stairs to the room we would be staying in. 

*

"Where are you headed today, Remus?" Arthur asked the next morning, pouring himself a cup of tea. I leaned on my hand, slowly adding milk to my own tea. I could barely keep my eyes open.

"I thought we would go to London," Remus answered, leaning over and taking the milk out of my hand before my cup could overflow. "Do some last minute Christmas shopping. Let Jules look around a bit."

I looked up at the sound of my name, blinking at Remus through eyes that felt like they had been replaced by sandpaper. 

"What?" I asked intelligently. Remus grinned at me.

"Go back to sleep Jules," he said quietly. Arthur chuckled.

"Are you sure you want to do that today? Maybe you should give it another day."

"Well, tomorrow is Christmas, so I didn't think we should wait. And we go back to Canada on the twenty-seventh, so really, today is the only day."

"You're only staying till the twenty-seventh?" Ginny asked as she came into the kitchen, looking crestfallen. "How come?"

"I need to get back and find what I'm looking for."

"Go then," Ginny said with a grin. "Jules can stay here."

I lifted my head up off my arm, raising an eyebrow at Ginny.

"What?" I said, again showing my wondrous intelligence. Both Ginny and Remus laughed at me.

"Here," Ginny said, placing a glass in front of me. "This works better than tea. This will wake you up."

I stared at the liquid in the glass. It looked like plain orange juice.

Remus was pouting at Ginny. She grinned at him and gave him a playful shove.

"I was joking, silly. Of course I'd want you to stay too."

I carefully raised the glass to my mouth. My hands were shaking slightly from exhaustion. I had no idea why I was so tired because I'd certainly fallen asleep early enough. I nearly choked on the ice cold juice. I could feel warmth rushing through my veins and felt the sandpaper leave my eyes.

"What is this?" I asked, sitting up straight at the table.

Ginny shrugged. "Pumpkin juice."

"Pumpkin juice? Interesting." I took another drink. "My Nannie used to make me pumpkin juice, but it never tasted like this."

Ginny grinned sheepishly. "Well, it has special additives."

"Such as?" Remus asked, raising an eyebrow. Ginny refused to say. I wasn't too worried. Whatever the additives were, they worked wonders. I felt like I could swim the ocean back to Canada.

"You said something about going to London?" Ginny asked Remus. "Would it be alright if I tagged along?"

"Of course," Remus answered. "I figured that anyone who wanted to come could come."

"Well, I'd like to come, but I had best be off to work," Arthur announced, standing up and pulling his cloak off the hook. "I will see you all at dinner."

He left as Harry and Ron straggled into the room. Neither of them looked quite awake yet.

"Who's going to London?" Ron muttered, rubbing his eyes.

"We are," I answered. "You too, if you'd like."

"I would love to!" Hermione answered, bounding into the room, her hair already pulled off her face and her eyes bright and alert. 

Harry groaned, pushing his glasses back up his nose. "Why are you so perky?"

Hermione grinned at him but said nothing.

I smiled to myself as I continued to drink my special pumpkin juice. I thought Ron and Harry could use a glass.

Within an hour, everyone was ready to go. It would be Remus, Sirius, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny and myself going. We all piled into the same car that we'd arrived in the day before. Again, I was amazed at the amount of room inside the car.

The trip to London was a long one. I watched the scenery roll by as we drove. The car was noisy as everyone chatted merrily.

I noticed, once we got to London, that everyone seemed wary of spending too much time outside. Sirius would leave wherever we were at first and look around, then come back and tell everyone it was okay. Then we'd hurry on to the next place. 

It was still nice to be there. We stayed around the same area, and just spent time together, shopping and laughing and talking. We were searching for a place to eat when a little pub caught my eye. It was tiny and a little grubby-looking.

"Let's go there," I said, pointing. "It looks neat."

"Where?" Harry asked, looking around.

"There," I answered. I couldn't see the sign, so I pointed again. "It's a little pub."

"There?" Sirius asked, pointing at the same place I was pointing at. He looked startled and a little shaken. I thought I saw suspicion flash in his eyes, but when I looked closer, his eyes were clear.

"Yes," I answered. "Why? What's wrong with there?"

All of them were staring at me as though I'd grown a second head. _What_ was going on?

"Nothing's wrong with that place," Harry answered. "If that's where you want to go, that's where we'll go."

We started toward it. Remus took my hand. His face was pale and he kept glancing sideways at me. 

As we came closer to the pub, I could finally see the sign clearly. It was called the Leaky Cauldron.

***

I know it's been a long time since I updated this one…sorry everyone, but I didn't want to spoil the end of Looking Glass with that one comment about Lucius Malfoy being dead…anyway, thanks for your patience.


	9. What He's Searching For

Harry Potter and his whole world belong to JK Rowling. I am borrowing a few characters from her. 

****

What He's Searching For

The ride back to the Burrow was entirely different from the ride to London. Nobody spoke much and they kept glancing at me. I pretended not to notice.

We'd gone into the pub and I'd stared around. It was absolutely gorgeous. It looked like it had been around since the beginning of time. It was dark and a little shabby, like most older pubs tend to be. There was a large fire place with a fire crackling merrily. A few suits of armour lined the walls as well as ancient looking pictures. I wanted to look closer at them, but Remus steered me toward the bar. There were a few people in there already. 

We'd pushed a few tables together and the bartender came over to take our order. He'd trembled when taking Sirius' order. It seemed that everyone had been in there a couple times before, as they knew the bartender's name, Tom, and he knew theirs.

We hadn't stayed long. Sirius had announced when we finished eating that he would like to go back to the Burrow, and nobody had argued. He was looking a bit tired. We all remembered that he was still recovering.

I sighed as I leaned against the window. What had I said that they were all acting so strange toward me? Even Remus kept sending sidelong glances my way.

By the time we reached the Burrow, I was feeling annoyed with the others and I was very concerned about Sirius. He looked ready to collapse. Remus noticed this too and shot an anxious glance my way. We moved up beside Sirius, ready to catch him if he fell. He sent a look of annoyance at the two of us, but didn't say anything. As soon as we were inside, he collapsed into the overstuffed armchair beside the tree. Crookshanks leapt into his lap and started purring.

Molly had dinner on the table already when we walked in the house. Arthur, Bill, Charlie and the twins were sitting down to eat. Arthur glanced at Sirius in alarm.

"Is he alright?" he asked Remus.

"He just overdid it a bit today. This is really the first time he's been on his feet in months." Remus sighed. "It's my fault, really. I should have thought of that."

"Knock it off, Remus," came Sirius' voice. His eyes were closed and his head was on the back of the chair. He apparently was still awake and listening. "I'm the same age as you are; therefore I am old enough to look after myself."

"Are any of you hungry?" Molly asked. I shook my head.

"I could eat," Harry said with a grin.

"Me too," said Ron. 

"Where did you go for dinner?" Arthur asked conversationally as Ron and Harry joined the others at the table.

"A little pub in London," I answered, as everyone glanced my way again. It was _really_ starting to get on my nerves. "The bartender seemed to know everyone, so maybe you know it. The Leaky Cauldron?"

Bill dropped his fork and stared at me as well. Arthur blinked in surprise.

"You went there? That's…interesting," he said slowly.

"Okay," I said finally, sitting down in the chair beside Harry. "What is the big deal about the Leaky Cauldron? Why does everyone keep giving me strange looks?"

Arthur and Remus exchanged a look. The others just concentrated on their plates.

"We were just surprised that you chose that place to go to, is all," came Hermione's voice from behind us. I turned to look at her. "Most…well…tourists wouldn't even notice it. Yet you noticed it and you wanted to go there. Some people even think it's sort of shady."

"Shady?"

"Um…disreputable. Not such a nice place."

I laughed. "I know what shady means. I just didn't know why you'd apply it to the Leaky Cauldron. It looked like a perfectly normal little pub. A little old, perhaps."

Hermione smiled at me. "Well, like I said, we were just surprised that you chose that particular place."

I didn't see everyone exchanging relieved looks behind me. I smiled back at Hermione.

"I like neat little places like that," I told her. "I always have."

I stood up from the table and went into the living room with Hermione and Ginny. Sirius had fallen asleep, Crookshanks still in his lap.

"I wanted to apologise for last night," Hermione said as soon as I sat down beside them. "We didn't mean to put you on the spot like that."

Ginny nodded. "We really didn't mean for Sirius and Remus to overhear either!"

I laughed. "That's alright. I didn't really mind, until Sirius started getting louder and louder!"

I glanced over at him to make sure he was still sleeping.

"I'm not so sure he likes me," I confided to the two young women.

"He does," Hermione assured me. "But he's been through a lot in the last two years. Well, in the last fifteen years, really. He's still not himself. He likes you. He may, however, be having a hard time trusting you."

"Trust us," Ginny said quietly. "You make Remus happy. For that alone, Sirius adores you. Remus hasn't had a lot of happiness in his life."

"I know it shouldn't bother me," I said quickly. "But I don't want to cause problems between Sirius and Remus. Remus has known Sirius forever. He hasn't known me that long."

Hermione smiled at me. "You won't cause problems."

Sirius groaned as he shifted in the chair. I heard Crookshanks begin to purr again.

After a while, people started drifting in from the kitchen. Harry and Ron nearly had to drag themselves away from the table, they had eaten so much. 

"It serves you right, you git," Ginny sniped at Harry. He grinned feebly at her.

"You too," Hermione told Ron with a grin. He pouted at her and sat down on the floor.

Remus slid in beside me. He watched Sirius with concern for a bit before turning his attention to me.

"Hi," he said softly, sliding his arms around me.

"Hi," I answered, leaning back against him. "Enjoy your second dinner?"

He groaned. "I didn't really eat. I talked to Arthur. I picked a little bit at some puddings, but other than that, I didn't eat."

I grinned at him, but said nothing. He glanced toward Sirius again.

"I should wake him up."

"Is he alright?" I asked.

"I don't know. I didn't even think about him not being able to spend the day walking. I suppose I should have, because he hasn't really done too much physical since he got out of the hospital. At school, he'd be teaching, but he'd be sitting in the chair. Well, Sirius would probably be sitting on the desk."

I laughed softly as Remus got to his feet. He sighed as he started toward Sirius. "He's probably going to complain that I woke him up."

I noticed his hand slip into his pocket as he reached Sirius. He cautiously gave Sirius' shoulder a shake.

"Sirius," he said quietly. "Wake up."

Sirius didn't move, continued to sleep. Remus shook him again. Sirius jerked awake, his eyes wide and panicked. He plunged his hand into his pocket and pulled out a scrap of wood much like the one Remus had in his suitcase. He pointed it straight at Remus. Then he seemed to wake up.

"Remus? What the hell are you doing?" He looked at the thing in his hand and gave a gasp. He looked my way and quickly pocketed it. "Damn. Did I do anything?"

Remus shook his head. 

"Sorry, Padfoot. I didn't mean to startle you. I just thought you should wake up."

Sirius groaned as he rubbed his eyes. "Thanks Moony." He muttered something to Remus under his breath. Remus nodded and answered in the same low tone. I sighed as I brought my knees up to my chest. 

"You look tired," Molly commented as she joined me on the couch. 

"I am, a bit," I answered truthfully. "All that walking today. Plus the change in time zones is wreaking havoc on me."

Molly nodded sympathetically. "I can imagine. I've never been overseas myself, but everyone says the time change is hard." She sat there quietly for a few minutes and then stood again. "If you'll excuse me, I'm going to head to bed myself."

I glanced at the clock as she went past it. I couldn't believe it when I noticed that the time was ten thirty. No wonder I was feeling a bit tired.

I glanced over at Remus. He and Sirius were in the middle of a discussion. I had no idea where Arthur, Bill, Charlie and Fred and George had disappeared to. Harry and Ron were again playing chess, the girls watching. I watched for a while, not really able to see the board. Ginny was laughing at a move somebody had just made. My eyes drifted back to Sirius and Remus. They were speaking a little louder. I could hear bits of their conversation.

"I don't understand it either, Padfoot," Remus was saying. "How was it visible?"

I didn't hear all of Sirius' response. I just heard him say what sounded like "Must be a witch. There's something…"

Remus shook his head. "You've said. But we'd know if that were the case. Wouldn't we?"

Sirius shook his head as well. "I don't know, Moony." He glanced my way. I grinned sheepishly. "Can't keep your eyes off him, eh?" 

I flushed as Remus took a swipe at Sirius.

"Actually," I said quietly. "I was just waiting until you two had finished talking to interrupt. I'm heading to bed, Remus."

Remus nodded as I stood. He said good night to Sirius and was at my side before I could reach the staircase.

"You didn't need to stop talking," I told him. "I'm alright."

He smiled at me. "I'm actually ready for bed as well."

We reached Charlie's room. I changed quickly and slipped under the covers. Remus slid in next to me. The bed was small, but that was okay. He rested his hand on my hip and looked down at me.

"Is Sirius feeling better now?" I asked, looking up at him. 

"Much better. I nearly gave him a heart attack when I woke him though."  
"What was that thing in his hand? That he pulled out of his pocket?"

Remus grinned. "His magic wand, remember?"

I laughed, remembering that I'd called the thing Remus had his magic wand.

"So you think that he doesn't like you?" Remus' fingers slipped under the front of my shirt and he started drawing circles on my stomach.

"Well," I said, wondering how he knew I had said that. Ginny and Hermione wouldn't have told him, I was sure about that. "I get that feeling."

Remus grinned at me as he continued to trace circles on my stomach. "You needn't worry. He does like you."  
"That's what Hermione said," I replied, very aware of his hand. "She said that I make you happy, so that makes Sirius happy."

"She said that, did she?" Remus smiled. "She's a smart girl, that one."

"I like her," I said. "And Ginny. Ginny's feisty."

"You have no idea," Remus told me, leaning over me to blow out the candles. He slipped his arm over my hip and snuggled against my back. "Good night, Jules."

"Good night, Remus."

I woke early on Christmas morning. I always have, ever since I was very little. I would get up and creep down to the kitchen, wanting to see if Santa Clause had taken the milk and cookies. I would always find Nannie waiting in the kitchen for me, making pancakes for breakfast, no matter how early I got up. We'd eat, and then we'd open presents. In the four years since Nannie had died, Christmas was always the hardest day. I missed her so much on Christmas.

Remus was still sleeping. I glanced at my watch. It was still only just six am. I slipped out from under his arm and dressed quickly, moving down the stairs slowly, trying to be as silent as possible.

I smiled as I entered the living room. The tree was twinkling merrily in the corner. Nobody else appeared to be up yet. I moved to stand in front of the tree and had to stifle a gasp when a large black dog stood suddenly. I didn't move as he appraised me silently. I breathed again when his tail started to wag. I sat on the floor and he moved over to me, curling up beside me and resting his head in my lap. I scratched his ears absently.

I sat there silently for a while, just watching the lights on the tree. I thought about my grandmother and I thought about Remus. I started to talk out loud to myself without realising it. 

"Merry Christmas, Nannie. I miss you," I whispered. The dog gave a soft whimper. I glanced down at him and his tail wagged once. Then he jumped to his feet and ran up the stairs. A moment later, Sirius crept down the stairs, much like I had done. He stopped when he saw me.

"You're up early," he observed quietly. "Happy Christmas."

"Happy Christmas to you as well," I responded. Sirius came over and slowly dropped down beside me.

"I think I might be getting too old to sit on the floor," he said with a groan. I grinned at him. "Did you sleep well?"  
"I did actually. And I feel much better this morning than I did yesterday morning." I looked at him. "How do you feel?"

"I'm a little stiff. I think I over did it a little yesterday." He frowned. "It's hard to remember that I'm not in great shape right now. I've never been one to sit inside."

I nodded. He looked up at the tree.

"I get the impression that you don't like me," he said quietly, not looking at me. I stared at him.

"I don't understand how," I said slowly. I laughed a little. "But I get the same impression about you."

He did look at me then. His eyes were twinkling.

"I'm sorry that I gave you that impression," he said seriously. "Harry tells me that I seem standoffish." He sighed. "I do like you, Julianne."  
"Good," I responded. "Because I like you as well. But I didn't think you liked me…and I didn't want to cause any problems between you and Remus."

Sirius smiled, his eyes sad. "I know you don't know what Remus is like when you're not around, but trust me when I say that you bring out the best in him. Remus was hurt very badly when he was younger and he doesn't really allow people to get too close. It changed his entire life. I've known Remus for close to my whole life. He doesn't trust easily, and when he does trust somebody, he trusts them completely." He turned and looked straight into my eyes. "You have his trust."

I nodded.

"I, however, take even longer to trust than Remus does. And I will be completely honest with you. I didn't trust you. I don't want to see Remus hurt. He is a good man, and he puts up with a lot."

I wasn't sure what to say. He had said that he didn't trust me, past tense.

"So has your opinion toward me changed?"

He didn't answer me straight away. He turned his gaze back to the tree.

"I won't lie to you, Jules. I do trust you to an extent. I'm just not sure to what extent."

I nodded again. I could deal with that. Sirius groaned again as he got to his feet.

"I'm going to go make some coffee. Would you like a cup?"

"No thank you," I answered. He left me staring at the tree. I heard someone else coming down the stairs. I turned and watched Remus enter the living room slowly. He stopped when he saw me, just like Sirius had done.

"There you are," he said quietly. "I wondered where you had gone. Happy Christmas."

I grinned sheepishly. "Merry Christmas. I always get up early on Christmas morning. I have all my life."

"You should have woke me," he said, settling down on the floor beside me. He pulled me into his lap. I turned my head so I could look up into his eyes. "I would have kept you company."

"Actually, I wanted to be alone for a while. There was a huge black dog here, but I don't know what happened to him. He seemed friendly enough. I was scratching his ears when he must have heard Sirius get up and I haven't seen him since Sirius came downstairs."

Remus didn't say anything about that, just smiled to himself.

"Where is Sirius?"

I nodded toward the kitchen. "He's braving Molly's kitchen."

Remus laughed as Sirius entered, carrying two cups of coffee.

"Happy Christmas, Moony," he said quietly. He set a cup down in front of Remus as he joined us on the floor. "I could hear you come down and I knew you'd want your morning cup of Black Death."

Remus chuckled as he picked up the cup and took a sip. "Happy Christmas, Padfoot."

I longed to ask what those nicknames meant, but I didn't dare. More people were stirring upstairs and had started down the stairs. Harry, Ron and Hermione came down at the same time, Ginny not long after. Finally Arthur and Molly joined us.

"Why on earth are the three of you sitting on the floor?" Molly asked as she entered the room. 

"That's a good question, Molly," Remus answered, looking down at me. "I got up and Jules was on the floor, so I sat with her. Why are you sitting on the floor?"

I laughed. "No reason, I just came down and your dog was here, so I sat on the floor to pet him. I just haven't gotten up again."

Arthur looked puzzled. "Our dog?"

"The big black dog?"

I heard a choking sound to my right. I turned and saw that Harry was choking on his coffee.

"Hot," he explained. "Burnt my tongue."

"We don't own a dog, dear," Molly said slowly.

"But he was here…" I didn't know what to think.

"Oh, I believe that he was here." For some reason she glared at Sirius as she said this. He grinned sheepishly at her. "Sirius has a thing about letting stray animals into the house."

"Molly, it's Christmas." Sirius grinned at her and she smiled back.

"Well, what should we do first?" Molly asked quietly. "Open presents, or should we wait for your brothers and have breakfast first?"

I could see that the younger group wanted to open presents, but we opted to wait for the rest of the family to join us. Molly whipped up pancakes and we sat down to eat. Just as we were finishing, Bill, Fred and George came through the door.

"Happy Christmas!" They all chorused. 

"Happy Christmas," we answered. Fred and George sat down and helped themselves to breakfast. Bill took several parcels into the tree.

"Don't worry, you two, I'll put your presents here!" he hollered at the twins.

"'Hanks!" Fred and George bellowed back, their mouths stuffed full. I snorted into my glass of pumpkin juice, trying not to let them see me laughing.

Charlie arrived not long after. He too went into the living room to put some presents under the tree, then joined the rest of us at the table. I sat back and listened to everyone chat. I was too full to even speak.

"Okay," Arthur said. "Presents."

We all filed into the living room. Soon the air was full of the sound of ripping paper and exclamations of "Wow, thanks!"

I was not forgotten. Molly had hand knitted me a violet sweater, from her and Arthur, with what appeared to be a peacock on it. It was wonderfully warm and comfortable. I slipped it over my head as soon as I unwrapped it. Also inside the wrapper had been several different sorts of sweets. I thanked her over and over again.

Harry, Hermione, Ron and Ginny had gotten me a set of fantasy books. They were bound in leather and written on parchment. I was almost afraid to open them, they were absolutely gorgeous to even look at. 

I picked up the gift from Sirius last. It was a very small package. I glanced at him as I opened it. Inside was a small jewellery box. I flipped it open.

"Oh my," Ginny said, peering over my shoulder. "That is gorgeous."

I carefully removed the thin gold chain from the box. The charm at the bottom was a tiny unicorn. I glanced at Sirius again and found him watching me.

"Thank you," I said breathlessly. "How…?"  
"Remus told me that you adored unicorns. I saw this and thought you might like it."

I nodded, speechless. "I love it. Thank you so much."

Remus gave my hand a squeeze. I was showing the necklace to Hermione and Molly, and didn't see the questioning look he sent Sirius' way. I also didn't see Sirius nod.

*

By the time Sunday rolled around, I was entering a deep state of depression. I didn't want to leave England so soon. I wanted Remus to stay with his friends, and I wanted to stay with him. 

It must have showed on my face at breakfast, because everyone asked if I was feeling alright.

"I wish you could stay, Jules," Ginny said quietly, her eyes sad. "We're going to miss you."

Hermione nodded her agreement. I smiled, unable to speak. It felt good that these people that I'd just met actually wanted me to stay.

I could tell that Remus wished he could stay as well. His face was pale and he looked very tired. He didn't say too much all morning. 

Our flight didn't leave until six, but because it was an overseas flight, I thought we should be at the airport early. Remus didn't argue or agree. He just shrugged. It didn't take me long to pack our things, even with the additional luggage we needed. 

Sirius came up to me before we were to leave and pulled me aside. 

"It was nice meeting you, Julianne," he said quietly. "I have a request before you go. Tell Remus that he has to hurry. Tell him that he must find what he's searching for. Tell him every morning when you wake up and every night before you go to bed."

I stared at Sirius in shock. He was so serious that I didn't know what to say.

"What-?"

"Tell him that our lives depend on it. Please Julianne. We need him to hurry."

"But what is he searching for?" I asked.

"I can't tell you, mainly because I don't really know myself. I just know that it is very important."

I sighed. 

"Jules," Sirius said, looking deep into my eyes. "I'm _trusting_ you to do this. Please."

I didn't know what to say. I merely nodded.

"I promise I'll keep on him to find what he is looking for."

Sirius gave me a hug. I looked up at him when he released me.

"I'm happy that you make Remus happy. It's good to see him happy."

I nodded, still not sure what to say. Sirius went to say goodbye to Remus and I went to say goodbye to everyone else. It broke my heart to say goodbye, not knowing when, or if at all, I would ever see any of them again.

The ride to the airport was quiet. Remus told Sirius that he would return the car for him, so nobody came with us. I waved until I couldn't see the Burrow anymore. Then I burst into tears.

"What's wrong?" Remus asked, surprised.

I laughed through my tears. "I don't want to go home," I said, starting to giggle. "I love it here. Let's just stay, Remus." Then I remembered Sirius. "Oh, wait, no you can't. You have to find what you're searching for."

Remus took my hand and kissed the back of it. "I promise we'll come back as soon as I find what I need." He smiled at me. "That is, if you want to come back with me."

I didn't hesitate in my answer. I nodded and said, "I want to come back with you. I adore all of your friends."  
"Good," Remus said with a grin. "They adore you as well." He turned back to the road, his eyes thoughtful and we didn't speak for a while.

I managed to stay awake for most of the flight home, but I fell asleep on the ride to the hotel. I groaned when Remus shook me awake.

"We're here. It's time to go to bed."  
I chuckled. "I won't need to now. I had a power nap."

"You will still need to sleep, trust me. Come on," he said as he got out of the truck. I sighed and stumbled to the back of the truck. I grabbed my things out of the box before he could say anything. He pretended to pout at me so I stuck my tongue out at him. He took my hand as we entered the hotel. I sighed and rested my head against his chest as we waited for the man at the desk to help us. I was so tired.

"Thank you," I heard Remus say. I jerked my eyes open. I'd been about to fall asleep, standing right there! "Come on, Jules." He took my hand again and led me to the elevators. 

I stared blankly at the elevator doors as we went up. Remus led me to the room and told me that he had to phone Sirius, to let him know we'd made it. I nodded and slipped into the bed. I didn't even bother changing.

I kept my promise to Sirius. Every day and every night I would tell Remus what Sirius had said to me. Hurry up. I knew Remus was getting a little frustrated with me nagging him like that, but he knew why I was doing it.

He didn't take a week off in January or February like he'd been doing every other month. He was sick again though, at the beginning of each month. I knew he was as soon as he woke up. He was edgy and pale. He disappeared just after dinner and didn't return till morning. However, in February, he took the day after his disappearance off. He was just feeling too awful to drive that day.

I spent the day in bed next to him. Whatever made him sick wasn't contagious, so I wasn't at any risk of getting sick. Plus he seemed to take comfort in the knowledge that I was there. I woke after lunchtime and ordered some soup for him, hoping that would help. Or at least warm him up, because he'd been shivering since he'd gotten back.

He was groggy when I woke him, but he ate some soup and it did seem to warm him up. He seemed to be feeling better after he ate because he didn't go right back to sleep. We sat there talking for a while. Remus was still shivering a little so I turned the heater up.

"You look warm," Remus said to me. 

"I should," I responded. "That's the point of wearing a sweater."  
I was wearing the sweater Molly had knitted for me and the grey sweatpants Remus had given me. I was warm. In fact, I was starting to overheat.

"I meant that you look like you're hot. Why don't you take the sweater off?"

I grinned at him. "You just want to see me naked."

He pretended to leer at me. "Well, yes."

I laughed. I took a t-shirt out of my suitcase and slid my sweater up slowly, pretending to do a striptease for Remus. He wolf whistled at me. I laughed at him and pulled the sweater over my head, tossing it at him.

"What's that?" Remus asked. I glanced at him, then to where he was pointing. The spattering of freckles on the left side of my ribcage. Remus had his head tilted a little and his eyes were narrowed as he studied it. For some reason his face had gone even more pale than it already had been.

I laughed. I'd always been so embarrassed about that. It was so ugly. Even Noah had never seen them.

"Freckles," I said with a self conscious laugh. "My Nannie used to tell me that it looked like a peacock."

Remus frowned as he picked up my sweater. He turned it so he could see the picture on the front. He compared it to my freckles.

"It doesn't look like a peacock," he said softly. "It looks like a phoenix."

I raised an eyebrow at him. "Is that what that is? I thought it was a peacock too."

He nodded. His face seemed to be getting even more pale.

"But there's no sun," he said softly, almost to himself. I stared at him.

"Yes there is. How'd you know?"

His eyes widened slightly. I turned a little so he could see the scar on my back. The small circle with the straight lines around it. I couldn't remember how I'd gotten it, I'd always had it. But it very definitely looked like the sun. 

"The phoenix flies with the sun. Oh Jesus." Remus got to his feet.

"What?" I asked, confused and concerned. He was starting scare me.

He didn't answer me. He ran his hands through his hair, then stared at me again. 

"What about the symbol of the Christians?"

Now he had completely freaked me out. He had never _really_ seen me naked. It was usually dark, or I was covered by something. I made sure of that because my scars and freckles embarrassed me, so how, exactly, did he know about everything? 

I didn't say anything. I slipped my pants down a little, showing him my inner thigh. There was another spattering of freckles there, very small, but roughly in the shape of a cross.

Remus went completely white and swayed where he stood. 

"No. God, no, please," he whispered. "Please, not Jules."

"Remus," I demanded, the hairs on my arms and the back of my neck standing on end. "What is going on?"

He stared at me and I was shocked to see the tears in his eyes. He wrapped his arms around me and hauled me against his chest. I was too surprised to react at all. He then kissed me as though he'd never kiss me again. 

Then he started to cry.

"I love you," he said quietly. I stared at him.

He turned on his heel and left the room.

***

Sorry again for the length of time it's taking me to do this one. I know where the story is going, but I'm having a hard time getting it to come out the way I want it to. Please be patient with me and hopefully I'll have the next chapter up a bit sooner.


	10. A Rose by Any Other

Harry Potter and his whole world belong to JK Rowling. I am borrowing a few characters from her.

****

A Rose by Any Other

__

Remus

I didn't know where I was going; I just knew that I needed to get out of there.

I didn't want to break down in front of Julianne.

She was what I'd been searching for all along. She'd been in my car since I'd gotten to Canada and I hadn't even realised it. 

No wonder my instincts had been dormant since August.

She had been distracting me after all.

We had hoped it would be an animal. I'm not sure why we did, but we did.

But there was no doubt. I'd known as soon as I'd seen the rough phoenix shape in the freckles on her ribcage. _Why_ hadn't I noticed it before? I'd seen the freckles, but never the shape they formed.

At a meeting for the Professors of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in July, Professor Trelawny had suddenly gone rigid and started speaking in a harsh voice. Albus Dumbledore, who had witnessed one of her prophecies before, the one that had named Harry as the Dark Lord's equal, had sat forward quickly. Her prediction hadn't been long, and she hadn't remembered a word after.

"_In the great white north the Saviour dwells…The phoenix flies with the sun…United over the sign of Christ. Together with the Dark Lord's equal…They will have the power…To defeat the Dark Lord. In the great white north…"_

There had really been no doubt what country she'd meant. Nobody had ever heard of any other country besides Canada being called the Great White North. Dumbledore had pulled me aside as soon as everyone else had left. He'd asked me to find the Saviour. He said that it sounded like it could be either person or beast. 

I had wasted so much time. If I'd actually paid attention to my instincts, Percy probably wouldn't have died.

But why Julianne? Because of her fascination with magic? She wasn't a witch; she'd never shown magical abilities.

I stopped dead in my tracks. That wasn't true at all.

She'd found my wand after I'd rescued her from Noah. After I'd placed the Memory Charm on her. After I had thought that my Memory Charm, which are usually very strong, hadn't worked. When she'd picked up my wand, it had shot red and gold sparks from the end. Just like Harry's had when he'd gotten his wand. Wands didn't usually do anything when a Muggle picked them up. But I had seen it with my own eyes.

Not to mention she could see the Leaky Cauldron.

Sirius had told me over and over that he didn't trust her. He said that he knew there was something about her that he couldn't place his finger on. He said he got a very strong magical vibe from her.

She couldn't know about it though. There was no way.

I sat on a cold park bench and shivered. I could feel dampness of my face. I had started to cry without realising it. I hated that I was crying but I knew that finding out the truth about Julianne meant taking her back to England.

It could mean asking her to sacrifice her life in order to save the entire wizarding world.

She was the Saviour.

I buried my face in my hands, partly to try to control the tears and partly to keep my face from freezing. I wanted to stand there and shout at God. He had given me an angel and now he was ripping her away from me. 

Finally, something in my life had been going well. I should have known not to trust it.

I didn't know how long I sat there. I didn't look up as people passed, didn't remove my hands from my face.

"Remus?"

I lifted my head and found Julianne standing uncertainly in front of me. She had also been crying, I could tell. I could see the necklace Sirius had given her glittering against her throat. The unicorn necklace that he had charmed with a Protector Charm.

"What is going on, Remus?" she asked. She dropped to her knees in the snow and took my cold hands in hers. She looked up at me. "Please tell me." Then she frowned and took the cloak that I'd gotten for her off her shoulders and flung it over my shoulders. "You're freezing. Please, let's go inside and you can tell me. I don't want you to get even sicker."

The full moon had been the night before. Even with the Wolfsbane Potion, the transformation wasn't easy, but with Julianne around, it had been easier to recover. She had a calming effect on me. And I was probably going to ask her to die.

I started to cry again. Julianne blinked rapidly as she helped me to my feet and led me back inside. 

She made me have some more of the soup to warm up. It tasted like sand going down my throat. Then she sat beside me and wrapped her arms around me.

"Please tell me what's wrong, Remus."

"We have to go back to England," I told her, not looking directly at her, watching her slightly out of the corner of my eye. She stared at me. I could see excitement flare briefly in her eyes. I looked up at her. "You don't want to, trust me. It's not a good thing that we have to go back to England."

I sighed and stood. I pulled my wallet out of my pocket.

"We have to go now, so please get your things together. I'm going to go pay for the room."

She nodded and I was relieved that she didn't ask more questions right then. 

I left the room and hurried down to the lobby. I told the man that I needed to go that I had an emergency. I gave him the Muggle credit card that Dumbledore had given me when he'd sent me on the quest.

Why did she have to be so amazing? 

I didn't look at the man at the desk because I didn't want for him to know that I was about to cry again. I signed the slip then went back to our room. 

Julianne had packed everything by the time I got back. I picked up the phone and called Arthur.

"Hello?" It was Molly. She sounded worried. I realised that it was after midnight there.

"Molly," I said and then stopped. I couldn't say it.

"Remus? Are you alright? Are you hurt? Did something happen? Oh, God, did Bill's Wolfsbane turn out to be bad again? Did you bite someone? Did you bite Julianne?"

I shook my head, knowing very well that Molly couldn't see me.

"No," I said, forcing myself to stay calm. "We're coming to England, Molly."

"Coming to England? Why?"

"I found it, Molly." I paused. "I'll be there in five minutes and then we'll be there in ten. I thought I would phone ahead and let you know."

Molly and I said goodbye. I turned to find Julianne watching me.

"What have you found?" she asked quietly.

"Let's go to the truck, Jules."

There was too much luggage for me to carry it all myself, so Julianne picked up her own bags and we headed down to the truck. We drove to a nearby field that was completely deserted. Julianne looked around nervously.

"Why are we here?"

"Because what I'm going to do can't be seen."

She stared at me, fear evident in her pale blue eyes. She backed away from me until she hit the door of the truck, her hand coming up defensively. As usual when she did that, I felt a strange desire to back away.

"No, Jules, I'm not going to hurt you." I laughed as I climbed out of the truck and went to get all our things together. No, I wasn't going to hurt her. Not directly, anyway. "Stay in the truck, I will be back for you in less than five minutes."

I picked everything up in my arms and Disapparated. 

"You found it?" Arthur demanded as soon as I reappeared in their living room. "What is it?"

I looked at him and swallowed. "It's Julianne."

He gaped at me. I set the luggage and Julianne's boxes down, then Apparated back to the truck. Julianne was still sitting there, completely frozen in surprise.

"How did you do that?" she demanded. She pulled away from me when I tried to take her hand.

"Please, Jules, we have to go."

She stood her ground and looked at me defiantly. "Not until you tell me how you did that!" She went still, her eyes thoughtful. "That's how we got away from Noah, isn't it? That's why I don't remember a plane ride."

I nodded, but didn't speak.

"Why don't I remember?" She was angry, I knew, and it wouldn't do any good to lie to her. Not now. Not anymore.

"Let's get to Molly and Arthur's house. Then I will explain everything," I said quietly. "Please, Julianne."

She glared at me for a moment and then nodded. I held my arms out to her. She stepped into them and I Disapparated. 

Molly and Arthur were waiting for us when we reached the Burrow. Molly's face was tear streaked. I watched Julianne stare around a house that looked completely different from the last time she'd been there.

At Christmas, Arthur, Bill and Charlie had painstakingly gone around the house and bewitched everything magical to look like Muggle artefacts to Julianne's eyes. Even Buckbeak, the Hippogriff. Julianne had seen a horse grazing in the back. The rest of us could still see what everything truly was, but Julianne could not. Like the clock in the kitchen. The rest of us saw the clock with nine hands and a name on each hand. Julianne had seen a beautiful old grandfather clock.

She stopped looking around and stared at the three of us. 

"Magic."

It was one word, but it told me that she'd figured it out.

"You're a witch," she said calmly, looking at Molly. "And you two are wizards."

We all nodded silently. Julianne started to pace slowly.

"Why didn't you tell me before?" She stopped. A puzzled frown flitted across her face. "Wait a minute, I knew before. When you shot the red light at Noah."  
I stared at her. I'd never known somebody to be able to break through their own Memory Charm before.

She stared at me. "Then you took me to the hotel and healed me. You called me a Muggle and you somehow erased my memory."

Molly and Arthur were now staring at Julianne. 

"She broke through her own Memory Charm," Molly whispered, her face shocked. Arthur said nothing, just continued to stare.

"So then everyone here at Christmas was magical?" Julianne was looking at me expectantly.

"Yes," I answered softly. "The school I teach at is called Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Harry, Ron and Hermione are in their last year there and Ginny is in her sixth year." I paused and took a deep breath. "There's something else about me that you don't know."

Julianne didn't say anything, just sat down in the armchair. She continued to look at me expectantly. I glanced at Molly and Arthur before continuing.

"She doesn't need to know, Remus," Molly said quietly. Arthur nodded in agreement.

"Know what?" Julianne demanded.

I took another deep breath, knowing that in a moment I was going to reveal my deepest, darkest secret to a woman that I had fallen deeply in love with. And I was going to either watch her look at me like I was crazy or see her eyes darken in fear.

"When I was a child, I was bitten by a werewolf," I said calmly, looking straight into her eyes. She didn't even blink. "Since then, every month at the full moon, I turn into a werewolf. In the last few years they've come out with something called the Wolfsbane Potion, and it makes me safe. I'm able to curl up as a harmless wolf. I still take precautions, however, in the event that I get a bad potion. That's where I was last night, and why I have been disappearing for minutes at a time in the week preceding the full moon."

Still she showed no emotion in her eyes or on her face. It was like she hadn't even heard me.

"Jules?"

She shook her head and looked down at the floor.

"I knew already."

"What?" I asked, sure that I hadn't heard what I thought I'd heard.

"I figured that out. I…I guess I didn't want to believe it, but a part of me already knew." She looked back up at me. "In November when you disappeared…I sat and I looked out at the full moon, and it dawned on me that you'd been sick during the full moon the two months before as well. And then I remembered Harry getting all riled up when I made that comment about werewolves being evil." She paused and shook her head. "I wondered at the time why he was so…passionate about it. It just made sense."

It was my turn to stare at her in bewilderment. "Why did you never say anything?"

She laughed. "How do you ask somebody if they're a werewolf? People already think I'm crazy because my most valued possessions are my stuffed and ceramic unicorns. Because I used to want a unicorn as a pet. They think I'm crazy because I am in a daze half the time, wanting to be off on some magical adventure. Because I used to pray that magic was real, that it existed."

Molly laughed sadly. "It exists. It's very real." She pulled out her wand. "_Orchideous!"_

A bunch of flowers burst from the wand tip. Julianne gasped and her eyes lit up.

"You know what else is real?" Molly asked. "Unicorns."

Julianne looked like all her dreams were coming true. It nearly broke my heart.

"We should get to bed," I said quietly. "We have to go to Hogwarts in the morning."

"I think you should go now," Arthur said quietly. It was the first time he'd spoken since I'd told him about Julianne. "Dumbledore is already worried."

I laughed. "There is no way I'm Apparating into Hogsmeade tonight. I'm exhausted. The full moon was last night. It was bad enough Apparating across the ocean four times."

"What is Apparating?" Julianne asked.

"What we did to get here," I said to her. "That's Apparating. Actually you were Piggybacked because I Apparated you as well as myself. That's how Harry and Hermione got to Canada in August. It's how I got here in August as well, and how I've been getting here to take the Wolfsbane Potion before the full moon. It's leaving one place and appearing almost instantly in another."

"That cracking noise."

I nodded.

"You came all the way here for the Potion?" she whispered. I nodded again.

"I'm safe here, and I trust the person making it for me. I've been going to a place in Canada for the transformation though. Arthur found it for me."

I stood and held out my hand for Julianne. This time she didn't shrink away from me. This time, she took my hand.

*

We left very early, even though we hadn't gone to bed until very late. Remus kept looking at me as though he was going to lose me. I wanted to reassure him that it wouldn't happen.

When he'd jumped up and left me, I'd stared at the door for probably a good five minutes, I was so shocked. Surely my scars and freckles weren't so hideous as to cause that sort of reaction. His arms and torso were covered in tiny little scars. But when he didn't come back for an hour, I went to look for him. It had broken my heart when I'd seen him sitting on the bench, crying his heart out.

When he'd taken me to the field, I had no idea what it was for. I didn't really think I was in any danger, because I'd been alone with him for so long, but it had been a gut reaction to try to put as much space between myself and him.

And then I'd found out that he was a wizard. And I had remembered everything that had happened in September with Noah. All three of them had stared at me in shock when I'd blurted that out.

I didn't know what to think when Remus had informed me that he was a werewolf. I'd known it already, really. A part of me had known. I felt relieved that he felt he could trust me with that information and it didn't change the way I felt about him in the slightest.

And now, we'd left the Burrow, and were on our way to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to speak with a man named Albus Dumbledore. Molly had lent me a set of Ginny's robes to wear so I wouldn't stick out.

Remus wrapped me in his arms and looked sadly at me. He pulled my cloak a bit tighter around my shoulders before he Disapparated.

We reappeared in a lovely tavern. The beautiful lady at the bar called out a greeting to Remus as he made for the door.

"Nice to see you too, Rosmerta," Remus called back, smiling at her. 

I wanted nothing more to stay there and look around the tavern, but Remus wanted to get to the school. I gasped as we walked out into the street. There were no Sears here! I could see a store called Gladrags Wizard Wear. Across the street was what appeared to be a candy store called Honeydukes. Just up the street was a store called Zonko's Joke Shop. A tiny post office stood next to it and, amazingly, every few seconds, an owl would swoop out a window and fly into the distance.

"Where on earth are we?" I asked.

"Hogsmeade," Remus answered, taking my hand and leading me up the street. I twisted left and right, trying to see everything. At the other end of the street stood an enormous old house, it's windows boarded up. "This is the only wizarding establishment in Britain. There are no Muggles here."

Muggles, Remus had explained, meant people who weren't wizards. People who weren't magical. People like me.

We walked away from the boarded up house and left the town. I gasped as a magnificent castle came into view.

"Can you see the castle?" Remus asked softly.

"Of course I can see the castle," I answered, glancing at him. "Why wouldn't I be able to?"

"Because it's bewitched so Muggles can't see it properly." He didn't look at me.

"Oh. Okay."

We went through the gates which were flanked by winged boars. I stared around as we walked up the road to the castle. There was a small hut just beyond the gate that looked like it hadn't been used in a while. A stones throw away from the front door of the hut was a large, dark forest. I shivered just looking at it.

I continued to gaze around as we walked toward the castle. Ancient trees lined the walk. I stopped as we passed a field of some sort. There were six golden hoops suspended above it, one at either side. There were stands all around it.

"Is that for soccer?"

Remus shook his head. "No, Quidditch."

"Oh," I said, having no idea what Quidditch was.

We reached the front steps to the castle and ascended them quickly. Remus took a deep breath as he led me through the doors.

I could hear voices to my left. I glanced that way and saw at least a thousand students sitting around four long tables. At the head of the room was a long table where I assumed the teachers sat.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," Remus said softly. I gasped as a little man in an orange bow tie came swooping down the staircase. It was a ghost!

He stopped at the sight of Remus and I and his face broke into a malicious smile. He opened his mouth to say something, but-

__

"Silencio," Remus snarled, his wand pointed at the ghost. The ghost glared at him, blew a silent raspberry and zipped in the opposite direction. "Peeves," he told me, catching my shocked look. "He's a poltergeist."

"A poltergeist?" I repeated weakly.

"Yes."

Remus took my hand again and turned toward the doors to the left. I stopped in my tracks.

"We're going in there?"

"Yes, we have to let Professor Dumbledore know we're here."

"But…but I don't want to go in there in front of everyone!"

Remus chuckled at me. "Don't worry," he said quietly. "You look younger than you are, they'll think you're a student." He let go of my hand. "Maybe I shouldn't hold your hand."

"Then I really won't be able to go in there!" I felt something akin to panic start to snake through my veins.

He smiled at me and took my hand again. I moved closer to his side, so the fact that our hands were joined were hidden by our robes. Then we made for the doors.

The doors were open, so not a lot of people noticed as we entered. I saw Harry, Hermione and the two Weasleys sitting at the far left table. Even in a crowd of students like this, they were instantly recognisable by the two with the vivid red hair. They were sitting together and chatting while they ate. Hermione was looking down at a book and Harry was laughing at something one of the other two had said. They didn't notice as we entered.

I drew a deep breath. So far so good.

"Oh look," said a bored, drawling voice. "The werewolf is back."

I turned to glare in the direction of the voice. I noticed a tall, very thin, very pale boy whose face reminded me forcefully of a rat. He had glittering grey eyes and stared back at me insolently. Remus ignored him, and the boy turned to speak to the boy next to him. He kept sending glances my way.

Remus gave my hand a squeeze. I realised that I'd been hanging on very tight, and eased up a bit.

I turned to face the front, deciding that was safer than looking around. There were several empty seats at the teachers table. I saw Sirius sitting at the table, next to a tiny little wizard who was speaking to a witch with square glasses. Her hair was pulled back into a severe bun and my first impression of her was to never make her angry. She glanced up as we approached.

"Remus," she said softly. She stared at me, shock etched in her features. Remus stopped in front of her. Sirius glanced our way and then did a double take. He smiled at me. I swallowed nervously and tried to smile back.

"I need to speak with Albus," Remus said quietly to the witch. "I've found what I was searching for."

I glanced at Sirius, to see if he knew what Remus meant. His face went stark white.

"No," he said quietly. "You can't mean-"

"Please, Minerva," Remus implored urgently, ignoring Sirius. "I need the password."

I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned to find Harry, Hermione and the Weasleys standing behind me. Hermione enveloped me in a warm hug.

"What are you doing here?" Harry asked, his eyes dancing. He glanced up at the witch named Minerva, who had just stood abruptly. Sirius stood as well.

"You stay here, Professor Black," Minerva said sternly. Sirius ignored her and came around the table. Minerva's mouth thinned, but she said nothing. She stopped in front of me and held out her hand.

"I am Professor Minerva McGonagall. You may call me Minerva. You must be Julianne?"

I took her hand. "I am. It's nice to meet you."

"And you. Please follow me."

She led the way down the row between the tables, Remus and I following, Harry, Hermione, Sirius, Ron and Ginny behind us. Our presence had been noticed by more students and they were staring our way curiously. I heard several people call hello to 'Professor Lupin'.

Minerva led the way out of the dining room and up a staircase. She came to a halt in front of a large stone gargoyle.

"Wizard Wheezes," she said. I gasped as the gargoyle came to life and hopped aside to reveal a moving stone staircase. Minerva stepped onto the bottom step and we all followed.

"Breath, Jules," Remus whispered. I took a deep breath as the staircase came to a halt in front of a beautiful polished oak door with a brass door knocker. I jumped as somebody took my other hand. I looked up and saw Harry. He didn't look at me, but gave my hand a reassuring squeeze.

Minerva knocked once and the door opened. We filed inside the office and I couldn't help looking around. There were portraits of men and women all around the office, tables full of whirring spindles and globes, the biggest telescope I'd ever seen…and perched beside the desk was a large bird with stunning red and gold plumage. I knew in an instant that I was seeing a real live phoenix.

Standing next to the desk was an ancient man. He had a very long beard and very long hair, both of which were tucked into his belt. He wore a long violet cloak that was covered with golden moons and stars. He had a long nose that was crooked, as though it had been broken more than once. He peered at us over half moon glasses.

"I have found what I'm searching for, Albus," Remus said. His voice shook slightly and his hand gripped mine painfully. Albus Dumbledore's eyes flickered on to me briefly and the slightest look of surprise came over his face.

Harry was also gripping my hand painfully. He stared at Remus. 

"Not Jules." He looked at me, then at Albus Dumbledore. "He can't mean Jules."

What were they talking about? Why was it so bad that I was what he was looking for?

"She has all the markings." Remus turned to me and smiled reassuringly. "May I show him?"

I gaped at him. Show this complete stranger when I'd never even shown Remus? 

I noticed Sirius, Harry and Ron all turn their backs, giving me some privacy. I sighed. 

"It's alright, you can look too if you want. I, apparently, have no dignity left." I parted the robe slightly, showing the patch of freckles on my ribcage.

"The phoenix," Remus said, pointing. I turned and he showed my scar. "Flying with the sun."

"What about the sign of Christ?" Minerva asked. I stared at her. Remus smiled thinly. 

"It's somewhere that doesn't need to be bared in front of strangers and teenage boys."

I heard Sirius cough. I glared at him and he grinned sheepishly at me.

"Of course," Albus said softly, finally speaking. "Of course; why didn't I realise it before? Another."

Remus glanced at me. I looked back at him and shrugged.

Albus looked at me. He smiled kindly.

"I am Albus Dumbledore. Call me Albus. Or Dumbledore. Or Professor Dumbledore. Whichever you prefer. What is your name?"

"Julianne Wallace," I answered. He looked at me, those blue eyes seeming to see deep into my soul.

"What is your full _given_ name?"

I stared at him. I glanced at Remus apologetically.

"Alexis Anastasia Julianne Wallace."

"Wow," Sirius said quietly. "That's a name."

"Of course," Albus breathed again.

"Will you please explain?" Remus burst out angrily. I stared at him in surprise. So did Sirius.

"Moony, be still."

Remus rounded on Sirius. "Padfoot, she's the Saviour! I want to know what happens now."

Saviour?

Albus sat down at his desk and looked up at Remus, his eyes sad.

"She's not only the Saviour, Remus."

Remus turned back to Albus, his eyes wild.

"What else is she? What more _can_ she be?"

Albus looked at me, but spoke to Remus.

"She is the daughter of Kellie Potter. James Potter's sister."

Everyone in the room stared at Albus.

"Sister?" Sirius and Remus repeated as one.

"But…that would make her my cousin," Harry said, staring at me.

Albus nodded. 

"Her mother was your father's sister," he said again. "Which means that there are now _two_ descendants of Godric Gryffindor."

"You told me last year that I am the last."

"You are. Alexis is older than you. She is the heir of Godric Gryffindor. You two are the last remaining descendants of that bloodline. If you look at your family tree closer, Harry, you will see Alexis listed on there. She will have a birth date and a death date."

Harry stared at me. I started to laugh. I couldn't help myself.

"I think you have the wrong person," I said between giggles. "My mother and my father dumped me at my grandmother's house when I was a baby."  
"They told everyone that you had died," Albus said quietly, nodding in agreement. "They did it to keep you safe."

I laughed harder. "They didn't. They did it because they didn't want me."

"She would have gotten a letter for school, and especially this school would have known if she were the heir of Godric Gryffindor," Sirius pointed out.

"She's not a witch, Dumbledore," Remus said quietly. Albus turned to Remus.

"I assure you she is." He turned to Sirius. "And a powerful one, I'm willing to wager. Did you not say that you got a very strong magical vibe from her?"

Sirius nodded, mouthing wordlessly.

"Did you not say that she was fascinated with magic?" Albus asked Remus.

"She is, but-"

"Where is the unicorn?"

Albus didn't look at anybody in particular when he said this. I stared at him.

"Unicorn?" Minerva asked. She appeared confused. Albus turned slowly to me, his blue eyes blazing. He seemed again to be looking into my soul.

"You know of what I speak."

Slowly I pulled the tiny pink unicorn with the golden horn and golden hooves out of the pocket of the robes that Molly had lent me. I leaned forward and set it on the desk. I had been carrying it ever since I'd gotten it back. I had always carried it with me before. It reminded me of my grandmother. It made me feel safe.

Albus picked it up carefully and examined it, his crooked nose right against it.

"Another Protector Charm?" Remus stepped forward to look at the unicorn as well.

"It appears to be." Albus set the unicorn on the desk and pointed his wand at it. I gasped and moved toward him, my hand up. He paused and stared at me, his eyes full of wonder.

"My grandmother gave that to me," I protested. "It was the first one she gave me. Please don't do anything to it."

Albus continued to look at me in wonder. I dropped my hand, pleading with my eyes. He nodded.

"We won't harm it." He pointed his wand at the unicorn again. I didn't want to watch. "_Finite Tutela."_

I gasped as the unicorn slowly changed colours. The pink seemed to drain out of it; it changed slowly from pink to silver to white. I had to sit down when it tossed its head and reared on its hind legs.

"I'm losing my mind."

I heard a burst of sardonic laughter to my left. I looked up for the source of the laugh.

"She's brilliant, Dumbledore. Truly."

I stared at the picture that was speaking to Albus. Then everything went black.

*

**__**

Remus

I moved forward when Julianne fainted, shooting a glare in the direction of Phineas Nigellus. I felt Sirius' hand on my shoulder.

"Leave her for now, Moony." He turned to glare at his great-great-grandfather as well. "You shut it."

I turned back to Dumbledore. 

"How did you know?" I demanded. "How did you know who she was?"  
He didn't answer me, just continued to gaze in wonder at Julianne.

"All this time…she's been in hiding. She had no idea who…or what…she is." Dumbledore turned sombre eyes on the rest of us. "And yet she is probably the most powerful witch the world has ever seen."  
"What?" Harry demanded. "How? If her mother is my dad's sister, then where is her mother?"

"Kellie Potter and Alexander Wallace are dead; murdered by Lord Voldemort. Just after the death of their daughter, their only child, Alexis Alexandra Julianne Wallace. I knew her as soon as she walked in. She looks extraordinarily like her mother, much like you look like James, Harry. They must have left Alexis with Alexander's mother. I spoke to her after Kellie and Alexander died, just before she up and moved to Canada." Dumbledore smiled. "I should have realised. They told me that the baby had died in her sleep."

__

Oh, Jules, I thought sadly. She didn't even know.

"Was her father a wizard?" Sirius asked quietly.

Dumbledore nodded. "A very powerful one. Just as her mother was very powerful. Kellie never came to Hogwarts, she chose to go to Beauxbatons because she wanted to learn different languages as well as magic. Kellie was nearly as talented as James was."

Something clicked in my mind. That didn't make sense.

"But Sirius and I both spent summers at the Potters," I protested. "There was never a sister. James never mentioned her."

"Well, no he wouldn't have. Kellie was several years older than James, and had been out of school for a few years by the time James was old enough to even come to Hogwarts. Kellie and James were never close at all."

"How do you know she's so powerful?" Sirius asked Dumbledore. He glanced at Julianne.

That same look of wonder spread across Dumbledore's face. He smiled broadly. 

"When she held up her hand, I had this very powerful urge to back away," he explained. "I couldn't move; I could just look at her." He paused, contemplating Julianne. "She has no need of a wand."

I gaped at Dumbledore. 

"But how will she be able to control her magic?"

Dumbledore smiled again. "The same way you control yours. Simply by focusing on it."

I stared at Julianne. She was starting to stir slightly.

"How do we defeat Voldemort?"

I turned to Harry. His face was pale and set. He didn't look anywhere but at Dumbledore.

Dumbledore closed his eyes and sighed.

"I'm not sure."

***

****

Hello again, everyone. I'm not certain that I'm happy with this chapter, so I might be making changes to it in the upcoming weeks. I wrote it…and then rewrote it…and then edited it. I'm still not 100% happy with it though, but I'll let you know if I change anything. Thanks again for reading, and please Review.


	11. The Truth

All characters depicted here belong to JK Rowling. I own nothing but the pleasure of writing this particular story.

****

The Truth

**__**

Remus

When Jules regained consciousness, we were still discussing ways we might bring Voldemort down. I knew by looking at her that she was extremely embarrassed about having fainted. Finally, Albus noticed that she had awakened.

"I want you to stay here," he said to her. "I want you to start taking, at the very least, Defence Against the Dark Arts."

"But I'm not a witch," she protested.

"You are," Albus corrected her gently. "You just need to learn."  
"You know, I think I saw a book about wandless magic in the library," Hermione said suddenly. Her eyes were pensive. "Should I try to find it again?"

I smiled softly to myself. I saw Jules glancing around, and I knew she was wondering why everyone was smiling.

"Yes," Albus said softly. "Maybe it would be a good idea for Alexis to read it."

He turned to her. 

"I am going to test you right now. We can have everyone else leave if you like, but I want to see if my instincts are correct."  
"Okay," Jules said nervously. Albus set a goblet on his desk. I raised my eyebrows slightly as I looked from Albus to Jules and back again.

"Summon that to you."

"Summon?" Jules repeated. "How do I do that?"

Albus smiled. "I think you know how. Just concentrate."

She glanced at me. I couldn't keep the interest out of my eyes and knew that she saw it too. I wanted to see if Albus was right; if she were, in fact, a witch. Jules shrugged and stared back at the goblet.

I wondered briefly how well she would do with everybody's eyes on her. She kept her attention focused entirely on the goblet. She held her hand out, palm up and squinted slightly at the goblet. It shook slightly on the desk and started to inch toward the edge. Her eyes, normally a pale blue, slowly changed to a darker shade of blue. I felt my jaw drop and I took a step forward as I heard someone gasp. Jules looked away from the goblet and looked at Ginny, who had been watching her closely. Her face was pale. I glanced around. Everyone else was staring at her, shock evident on their faces. Jules flushed slightly.

"Concentrate," Albus said firmly. Jules nodded and looked back at the goblet, concentrating even harder this time. She brought her hand up again and her eyes started to change, but this time they didn't stop at dark blue. They continued to change until they were a deep, dark violet. She held her hand in front of her, palm out. She gestured with her fingers and the goblet wobbled again before soaring off the desk and into her hand.

"Oh my word," exclaimed Minerva. "How did you do that?"

Albus stepped forward and took the goblet from Jules' hand, setting it once more on the desk.

"Okay, one more time, but this time while you concentrate, I want you to say the words '_Accio goblet'._"

"Okay."

Again, she looked at the goblet and concentrated hard on it. Again her eyes changed to that violet colour. I had never in my life seen that happen.

"_Accio goblet!_" Jules cried. The goblet flew off the desk, straight into her hand. "That was faster."

"That is _amazing!"_ Hermione cried. "Can we be trained to do magic without wands?"

Albus shook his head. "No. Very few people possess that gift. I have never seen someone pick it up as quickly as Alexis just did. Harry also possesses the gift of wandless magic, but he can only make it work when his emotions are running high." Albus smiled at Harry. "He hasn't quite mastered it yet. It is a gift that Godric Gryffindor also possessed, as I explained to Harry last year."

Harry flushed slightly and looked at the floor. 

"I want to try something else," Albus said quietly. "But I want to ask the four of you to leave the room. Alexis and Remus will be down to speak with you later."

Ron and Ginny looked like they wanted to protest, but thought better of it. They nodded and left.

"What do you want to try?" Jules asked nervously.

"I want to see how you react to curses."

I stood without even realising it, moving in front of Jules protectively.

"She hasn't been trained, Dumbledore," I said fiercely. 

"She won't know how to react," Sirius said angrily.

"I think she will know how to react instinctively. The curse I want to use won't hurt her anyway."

I felt Jules' hand on my shoulder. I turned my attention to her. The trust in her eyes was overwhelming.

"It's okay, Remus."

I stared at her for a moment then nodded, moving out of the way. She stood.

"You promise it won't hurt me?"

Albus smiled and nodded.

"Okay."

He raised his wand, studying her intently. I could feel power radiating off every inch of his ancient body. 

__

"Tarantallegra!"

Jules let out a gasp as the jet of orange light sped toward her. She took a step backward, flinging her hand up instinctively. 

The light stopped in midair. We all stared, open mouthed, at it.

I could see some sort of emotion flitter across Jules' face. I didn't need to be skilled at Occlumency to know what she was thinking. All this time, she'd had this incredible magical power and had never known. Her mother and father had been a witch and a wizard, so that must mean that her grandmother had also been a witch. Why had she never said anything to Jules? Why hide it?

"How come nobody found out about me?" Jules asked quietly, still holding the light out in front of her.   
"I believe your parents would have set it up that way," Albus answered softly. "They would have set up a Secret Keeper, using-"

"The Fidelius Charm."

We all gaped at her, including Albus. She appeared surprised that she'd said it as well.

"How did you know that?" Sirius demanded.

She stared at him. "I-I don't know," she answered, and we could all see that she was telling the truth. "Just something my Nannie said to me once. 'Thank God for the Fidelius Charm.' I didn't know what it meant then, but is that what it is? Is the Fidelius Charm the Secret Keeper Charm?"

I nodded at her, unable to say anything. She looked my way, lowering her hands as she did so. I moved toward her as the Curse shot in her direction again. She gasped as it struck her. Her feet started moving on their own accord, twitching and jerking everywhere.

"_Finite Incantatem!"_

I heard Albus say the Charm at the same time I said it. Jules' feet stopped moving. She burst out laughing and flopped into the chair.

"That was weird!"

I sat in a chair, running my hands through my hair. My face felt cold and I knew I must be pale. What did this mean? I still needed to know the answer to that.

"Who was her Secret Keeper, Albus?" Minerva asked softly.

"My guess would be her grandmother. When she died, the Charm would have expired, but as long as she stayed in the house she was raised in, she would still be relatively…protected. The Protector Charm on the unicorn would have sheltered her as well." 

He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. Then he moved toward one of the many bookshelves and pulled down an ancient tattered witch's hat. The Sorting Hat. I smiled to myself again, remembering it declaring me a Gryffindor.

"We have to place you in a House, see where you will sleep while you are here. I insist that you learn as much as you can."

I looked at Albus, surprised. Jules also looked at him.

"But couldn't she just-"

"No," Albus answered sternly. "The students think she is another student. It must stay that way, or Voldemort might be tipped off. We can't risk that, not yet. She must be placed in a House."

Jules stood abruptly, a look of fear on her face. She looked ready to bolt.

"What do you mean when you say that I am the Saviour? What is that?"  
Albus sighed, setting the hat on his desk. He leaned against the desk and crossed his arms, studying her thoughtfully. I could see Jules resist the urge to squirm under that blue gaze.

"We're not sure, to be honest with you," he answered her softly. "The prophecy said 'Together with the Dark Lord's equal, they will have the power to defeat the Dark Lord.'"

"But who is the Dark Lord? And who is his equal?"  
"The Dark Lord is Lord Voldemort," I explained, looking up at her. "He was once a student here and he went very bad. As bad as any wizard has ever gone. He craved power and he got power. In the end, his lust for power consumed him and he will use whatever means necessary to gain more power. He will not stop until he is known as the world's greatest sorcerer."

She stared at me. I looked down at my hands and continued to speak.

"He is the reason you were left with your grandmother. Your parents didn't desert you, Jules. They were murdered by Lord Voldemort. So were James and Lily Potter, Harry's parents and your aunt and uncle. He is also the reason Percy, Arthur and Molly's son, died."  
"What?" she breathed.

"When Harry was a year old, James and Lily also used the Fidelius Charm. They used a wizard named Peter Pettigrew as their Secret Keeper. He'd been a friend of ours in school and they felt he was trustworthy. Well…we all did, really. We were wrong. Peter betrayed them and James and Lily were murdered. Voldemort also tried to curse Harry, but the Curse rebounded off Harry on to Voldemort. Instead of killing him, as it should have done, it stripped him from his body and he fled, nothing more than vapour. 

"The scar on Harry's forehead is the result of the Curse. It's known as Avada Kedavra. It's the Killing Curse and there is no counter curse. When Voldemort's Curse hit Harry, it left a lightning bolt shaped cut on his forehead. Harry knows when Voldemort is close and when he is angry because he starts to feel pain in his scar. The scar is also how Voldemort marked his equal."

"Harry is his equal?"

Everyone nodded. Sirius had taken a very sudden interest in his hands. I didn't miss the tears that were sparkling at the corners of his eyes. I had to fight against the memories that were straining to be let out. Finally I drew a deep breath and looked up again.

"So Harry has to defeat him."

"Yes."

"How can I help?"

Albus stared at Jules. He nodded slightly.

"As I said, we're not sure how you can help. You wish to help?"  
Jules smiled sadly. "I just found out that this man murdered my parents and my uncle. He murdered my whole family, which means that Harry is the only family I have left. Of course I want to help."

She turned in my direction. "Besides, Remus," she added softly. "You saved my life. It's time for me to do what I can to save yours."

Minerva sniffled, blinking rapidly. She stepped toward Jules and took her hands.

"It means certain death," she explained carefully. "You will most certainly not survive."  
"Minerva!" Albus said sharply. "You do not know that."

She shook her head, still looking Jules deep in the eye. "You have less than a one percent chance of survival. Are you still willing to do it?"

Jules stared at her. I saw her swallow as an unidentifiable emotion swept through her eyes. Was she?

She looked around the room at each of us. I could see her thinking hard; knew she was thinking of her parents, her grandmother. Would she be willing to die? For Minerva was right. There really was a small chance of survival. I'd known that right from the start. I swallowed, trying to dislodge the lump that had settled in my throat.

She looked at me and our eyes locked. I knew I had conflicting emotions in my eyes. On one hand, I wanted her to agree. On the other, I hoped she would refuse. Her refusal meant that we could continue to be together.

__

Do I love you enough to die for you? she thought desperately. I blinked as her thought invaded mine. _Help me!_

The answer came to the both of us in an instant. Jules drew herself up in her chair and looked Minerva directly in the eye, returning her gaze. She nodded then turned to me.

"I have said many times that I owe you my life. It's time to prove that I meant it." She swallowed, turning her gaze to Dumbledore. "Even if it means I must die…I will help to bring him down. Just teach me how."

Dumbledore nodded, his eyes sparkling. He picked up the hat and moved toward her.

"We still need to determine your house. Please slip this on your head."

She stared at the worn, torn, dirty hat. I had to laugh, for she was plainly wondering if she wanted to stick that thing on her head.

She took it from him without grimacing and carefully set it on her head.

She gasped and tore the hat off.

"It talked to me!" she cried.

Sirius started to cough. It didn't hide the fact that he was laughing very well. Jules glared at him then stuck her tongue out at him. He grinned at her.

"Yes, that's what it does," Minerva explained, a slight smile on her strict face. "It won't hurt you."

She stared around as she slipped the hat on again. Her eyes closed and a look of indignation crossed her face. She seemed to be concentrating hard and jumped when the hat screamed.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Gryffindor?" Jules asked, tugging the hat off once again.

I nodded. "My old house."  
"And mine," Sirius added. "Also James Potter, all the Weasleys, Harry and Hermione. Plus your great-great-whatever-grandfather. Obviously, since it's named for him."

"Okay."

She set the hat back on Albus' desk.

"Will I need a wand?"

Albus shook his head. "I don't think so. I want you to take classes with the seventh year Gryffindors. That will be Harry, Ron and Hermione, plus their classmates. I wish you could have a full education, but maybe Remus and Sirius will be able to teach you over the summer vacation. I'm sure Sirius could teach you everything you needed to know. He and your uncle were the best students Hogwarts ever saw."

Sirius flushed slightly and grinned down at his hands. I looked at him in surprise. Since when was Sirius modest?

"Er, Albus? What about school books? And her robes and everything?" Minerva asked quietly.

Albus frowned slightly, his eyebrows furrowed. He appeared to be doing some thinking.

"Right," he said. "Well, I believe that Kellie left all her gold to James. I will contact Gringotts and see what I can find out."

"I can get her things for her," Sirius offered quietly. "Or give her the gold for them."

I flushed slightly, but said nothing. I looked down at my hands again, refusing to look at Jules. I hated that I wouldn't be able to get her things for her.

"We can get robes in Hogsmeade. She won't be taking Potions so she won't need a cauldron," Sirius continued.

"What classes will I be taking?" she asked

"Defence Against the Dark Arts," Sirius and I answered together.

"Transfiguration," Minerva added.

"You could also take History of Magic, because Professor Binns would never notice you," Sirius put in, grinning slightly.

"And I want you to take Charms," said Dumbledore. "Other than that, we can't really do anything for you. Remus and Sirius will have to teach you Herbology and Potions. Miss Granger could probably give you a hand as well."  
I chuckled. "Probably. Or she could just teach her everything she's interested in."

Albus smiled. "As for books, the two of you stayed with the Weasleys last night, did you not? You will likely be going back to pick up clothing and other things, so I'm sure Molly could dig up the books you would need. They should get you through to the end and then you won't have to go into Diagon Alley for books."

"So three, maybe four classes," I said. "Do you wish for her to take History of Magic?"

Albus appraised me silently for a moment. He shook his head. "You can teach her that. You were excellent at it in school." He turned back to Jules. "I think that you should just take Defence Against the Dark Arts, Transfiguration and Charms. They are the skills that will help you the most right away. I do not know when or where Voldemort will attack next, and I want you to be as well prepared as you can be."

She nodded nervously. She was starting to feel a bit overwhelmed, if the slight panic in her eyes was any indication. I couldn't blame her. She had no idea what to do and we were counting on her to help save an entire population. And possibly die while doing it.

"I suggest you get back to the Burrow to collect your things and then into Hogsmeade to purchase your robes. Please try to be back before dinner."

I nodded and stood. Sirius stood as well.

"Albus, will you cover my class today?"

Albus nodded and settled back at his desk. He pulled out a quill and a roll of parchment. Jules stood and I took her hand. We headed toward the door but before we reached it Jules stopped and turned, moving back toward Albus' desk. She reached out a hand and gently scooped the now gleaming white unicorn back into her pocket. She nodded to Albus and Minerva and rejoined me at the door.

*

I felt like somebody who was getting dressed up for Halloween. I stood on a stool in Gladrags Wizard Wears and watched in the mirror as an elderly witch pinned the robes around me.

I looked around the shop. There were all sorts of cloaks and robes already made, hanging on racks. I'd stopped to look at those, but Sirius had led me straight to the witch at the counter and asked for two sets of plain black Hogwarts robes. 

I glanced down at the witch as she lifted the bottom of the robes I was wearing. She was pulling it awfully high…luckily Remus and Sirius were browsing and couldn't see the amount of leg I was showing!

I watched them as they moved through the shop. My higher vantage point allowed me to see what they were up to. Remus was peering at a set of royal blue robes and Sirius seemed to be trying to talk him into buying them. Remus glanced my way and nodded once. Sirius looked at him, surprise etched in his features. Remus took the robes off the rack and both moved toward the area where I was. He grinned as he came in sight of me and Sirius gave a low whistle.

"Nice, Moony."

Remus punched him in the arm. The witch chuckled lightly as she dropped the hem of the robe back down, covering me completely.

"Those are nice, Remus," I said quietly, hoping the fact that my face was slightly flushed didn't show too much.

"I thought so too…I think I'm going to buy them. I need a new set of robes for at Hogwarts."

"You're finished, dear," the witch said, moving away and helping me step down. I glanced at my reflection. I watched Remus come up behind me in the mirror and slip his arms around me.

"You look wonderful," he whispered softly. I leaned back against him. "I'm sorry I couldn't buy the robes for you."

I shook my head. "Don't be sorry," I protested. He'd explained why he couldn't buy me the robes at the Burrow. He'd been so embarrassed…

I had known that it was hard on him, being a werewolf. I'd known that from the moment he'd told me. He hadn't wanted to. He had been afraid that I would turn away from him; that I would think less of him. But Harry had convinced me that werewolves were wrongly portrayed. As he'd said, they were dangerous once a month and harassed for something that was beyond their control.

And I knew Remus. I knew he was an honest, decent person. I also knew that if he was given half a chance, he could do amazing things.

But he hadn't been given that chance. Albus Dumbledore had given him a chance and he'd blown that one, he'd said. Luckily it was in Albus' nature to give second chances.

"Penny for your thoughts," he said softly, nuzzling my ear. I grinned at him.

"I was just thinking about how great those blue robes will look on you."

He flushed slightly and poked me in the side. I giggled and elbowed him lightly. He responded by tickling me.

"Okay, kids, break it up." 

We both glanced over to find Sirius regarding us, his eyes amused. He held up a bag that must have held Ginny's old robes that I'd been wearing. "It's time to go."

"I have to-" Remus started, holding up his own robes.

"No you don't."

Remus stopped and turned. He raised his eyebrows at Sirius.

"Excuse me?"

"I paid for them. You two seemed…occupied."

"You paid for them."

I glanced at Remus. His eyes were slowly turning a stormy colour. Sirius must have noticed as well. 

"You can pay me back when we get to Hogwarts, Remus. No big deal."

I knew Remus didn't like accepting what he thought of as charity. However, he also wasn't one to make a scene in public. He nodded shortly and took my hand. We exited the shop and made our way toward the store called Dervish and Banges.

"Thank you, Sirius," I said softly, looking up at him. He smiled and nodded. "Is there a way to change…um…Muggle money into wizard money?"

"Yes," Remus answered as we entered Dervish and Banges. "Just bring your money to Gringotts and they'll change it. That's in Diagon Alley," he added, noticing my look of wonder.

"Oh."

"You can reach Diagon Alley through the Leaky Cauldron," Sirius told me. I stared at him.

"That cool little pub? That was a magical place?"

Both of them nodded. Remus led me toward a table covered in parchment and quills.

"Anyway," Sirius continued, coming up behind us, "Gringotts will change whatever currency you take there into wizard money. You could even take your Canadian money."

I picked up an eagle feather quill as he spoke. It seemed nice.

"You should get a few," Remus told me. "Just in case."

"I know," I replied. "It never hurts to have an extra pen." I grinned at him. "Er, quill."

He chuckled as he picked up several little jars of ink. I picked up one that promised to change colours as I wrote.

"That's neat," I commented, slipping that jar in with the jars Remus was picking out. He chuckled again.

We left Dervish and Banges with several small bags full of ink and quills and rolls of parchment. We started back up the street toward Hogwarts.

Again as we walked down the street, the house at the end caught my eye. I wondered if anybody lived there.

"That house is kind of cool," I said to Remus and Sirius. I saw them glance at each other. "What?"

"It's not that cool," Remus said stiffly, taking hold of my hand again. I stared up at him.

"Why not?"

"Bad memories," Sirius answered.

"What?"

"I'll explain back at Hogwarts, Jules," Remus said tersely. "I can't tell you here."

"Oh. Okay."

We walked through the gates flanked by the winged boars. I could see a couple classes taking place, one over by the forest and the other inside the greenhouses. I wondered if Harry and his friends were in either of them.

"Will I be taking either of those classes?" I asked, my stomach flipping nervously.

"No," Sirius answered me, following my gaze. "Those lessons are Care of Magical Creatures and Herbology."

"Care of Magical Creatures?"

"Yes," Remus replied. "You learn about magical creatures and the proper way to care for them."

"Neat!" I exclaimed. "Do you learn about unicorns?"

Sirius laughed. "Yes. I think we learned in third year, wasn't it, Moony?"

"Fourth, I think."

"No, Harry learned about unicorns in fourth. I'm pretty sure we learned in third."

"Well, whichever." Remus grinned at me. "Sorry, Jules, you've missed out on unicorns."

"I'm sure Moony and Padfoot could take her to find some," Sirius said with a grin.

"I'm sure we could," Remus agreed. "We could probably take Fang with us too."

"Okay," I interrupted. "I don't mean to be rude, but what do those nicknames mean?"

Both men laughed. I flushed slightly.

"They were our nicknames in school," Remus answered me. "Sirius is Padfoot, James was Prongs, Peter is…was…Wormtail and I am Moony."

"But what do they _mean?"_

"Moony is because of the full moon," Sirius explained. "Because he turns into a wolf at the full moon."  
"Oh, of course," I replied, feeling slightly stupid. That one had been relatively obvious. "And the others?"

Sirius and Remus both stopped abruptly and glanced around. I stared at them, wondering why they were doing so when Sirius all of a sudden disappeared. An enormous shaggy black dog stood where he'd been standing.

The dog that I'd been petting at Christmas.

"Oh my god!" I yelped. Sirius turned back into a man. "I was petting you and scratching your ears!"  
Remus started to snigger uncontrollably. Sirius grinned sheepishly.

"Yeah," he admitted. "Sorry about that."

"I want to do that!" I said with a laugh. "How did you do that?"  
"We studied," Sirius told me. "For three years. We did it for Remus, to keep him company. You see, James and I figured it out in second year what Remus was. He hadn't told us; he was afraid to. And then James and I read everything, and I mean absolutely _everything,_ we could find about werewolves. We discovered that werewolves aren't a danger to other animals, only humans. So James and I, and our other friend Peter, decided to help him by becoming Animagi. That's the ability to turn into animals."  
I stared at him, stunned. Remus smiled as he remembered.

"That's amazing," I murmured. "Although it sounds a little dangerous."

Remus laughed. "Incredibly dangerous. It's a good thing that James and Sirius were the brightest students Hogwarts ever saw."

Sirius pretended to blush as we ascended the stairs into the castle.

"Anyway, James became a stag. Peter became a rat." Remus' eyes darkened as he spoke of Peter. "Wormtail betrayed all of us and set Sirius up. He is the reason Sirius went to Azkaban for twelve years."

Sirius glanced at Remus in surprise. I was a little surprised at Remus' bitter tone as well.

"I'm the one who is supposed to be bitter, Moony," Sirius said softly. Remus glared at him as we moved up the staircase that led to the dormitories. "We will still get him, I promise. This time…we won't let Harry stop us. We _will_ get him, Moony."

I shivered slightly, fear creeping into my heart at the feral looks in both of their eyes.

****

__________________________________________________________________

Hi everyone. Sorry for the amount of time it has taken me to update. I have written this chapter three times but I am finally…somewhat…happy with it. Not completely, but that's how it goes. Again, if I make any changes, I will let you know at the start of the next chapter. Thanks for your patience and I hope you enjoyed it!


	12. An Education in the Magical Arts

All characters depicted here belong to JK Rowling. I own nothing but the pleasure of writing this particular story.

****

An Education in the Magical Arts

I stopped counting steps around three hundred as we made our way to Gryffindor Tower. I consider myself to be in fairly good shape, but by the fifth staircase, I was about ready to pass out.

"Is it much further?" I gasped. Remus chuckled. 

"Two more staircases."  
"Wonderful." I concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other and on just breathing. "I am in awful shape!"  
"You look like you're in pretty good shape to me," Sirius commented. Remus shot a glare at his friend while my face turned several shades of red. "What? I was only saying!"

"It's probably from sitting in a car for…oh, five months," Remus pointed out. "We can rest if you need to."  
I laughed. "I am not resting. If you can make it and you're old, then I can make it too."

Remus huffed at me indignantly. I giggled as we continued up the stairs.

Finally we came to a halt in front of a painting of a lady in a pink dress. She had dark hair, very rosy cheeks and was quite large. 

"Where is the door to the Tower?" I asked, looking around. 

"Right here," Sirius answered. "Marauders."

I gaped as the Fat Lady beamed at him and the picture swung away from the wall, revealing a hole large enough for us to slip through.

"She seems to have forgiven you," Remus remarked dryly. I raised my eyebrows at Sirius as I slipped through the portrait hole.

"Yes," he answered, just as dryly, following me. "I apologised, promised it would never happen again, and now I'm her favourite again."

I glanced around the room we'd come into. There were a few people in there and they were all staring at us in shock.

"Welcome to the Gryffindor common room," Remus said, ignoring the stares. "This is where members of the house come to spend free time and study for exams. You won't have to worry about that," Remus added under his breath. "Dumbledore won't make you take exams because you're learning seven years in a few months."

"Okay." I watched as Ginny stepped away from a group of people and made her way toward us. She was wearing a set of scarlet robes that made her hair look even more fiery.

"Oh, Ginny," Sirius said, noticing her. "Good, we need you to take Jules up to her dormitory."

Ginny raised her eyebrows. "Her dormitory?" she repeated blankly. I grinned at her.

"I'm going to be taking classes and living in Gryffindor Tower."

Ginny's eyes lit up and she grinned. She took several bags of my things from Remus and wrapped her arm around my shoulders.

"We'll wait here," Remus said quietly as Ginny led me toward the door to the left.

"This is so exciting," she squealed as we started up yet another staircase. I smiled, not sure what to say. "What classes will you be taking?"

"Defence Against the Dark Arts, Charms and Transfiguration," I answered.

"Oh, those are my favourites!" she exclaimed. "Whose class will you join? They didn't put you in first year did they?" She looked horrified at the very idea.

"No," I answered, laughing. "They put me in seventh. Alb…um…Professor Dumbledore told me that I would be joining Harry, Hermione and Ron."  
Ginny looked slightly disappointed. "Seventh, okay then. This is your dormitory." She pulled open a door and led me inside. I gasped as I stared around.

There were five beds, all of them four poster. They were beautiful, with their dark wood and scarlet hangings. I moved toward them, glancing out one of the stained glass windows as I did. 

"Which bed would be mine?" I asked, turning back to Ginny.

"Well, this is Hermione's," she answered, pointing to the one closest to the door. "That one is Lavender's and that one Parvati's. So you could have either of those two."

I frowned. The other two girls were situated at the far end of the dormitory, away from Hermione. I set my bags on the bed next to Hermione's.

"Your mum lent me a couple of your old robes and she gave me a trunk and the books I would need," I told Ginny. "You don't mind, do you?"

"Not at all," Ginny answered with a grin. "I usually need a new set of robes a year anyway, so I'm glad that you could use them. See, it's good to be short," she teased. I laughed.

"I got some new ones though, so if you want them back…"

"Keep them. You never know when you need an old set of robes."

We set my things up quickly and made our way back down to the dormitory. Remus and Sirius were sitting in chairs by the fire and two tiny boys were talking to them. One was holding a camera in his hand.

"Was it brilliant in Canada, Professor Lupin?"  
"It was, Colin." He glanced up. "I even brought a Canadian student back with me."  
The two boys turned in our direction. I smiled at them. One of them had a shiny badge on the front of his black robes. The other was in scarlet robes exactly like Ginny's.

"I'm Colin Creevey," the one in the black robes said, holding out his hand.

"Julianne Wallace," I said, shaking his hand.

"This is my brother, Dennis. He's just going to Quidditch practice. Do you play?"

"Um, no, I don't."

"Too bad. Do you have Quidditch in Canada?"  
"Colin, she's just gotten here," Ginny snapped. "Don't pester her. She's got to go learn how to find her way to her classes."

I smiled gratefully at Ginny as Remus and Sirius both stood. I could see a group of girls giggling and watching them. I bit my lip to hide my smile as we went back through the portrait hole.

*

And so my education began. I was to tell nobody of my connection to Godric Gryffindor, Harry or Remus. I was to eat at my house table and sleep in my house dormitory. It felt odd, being thirty years old and living in a dormitory with three seventeen year old girls. At least Hermione acted older than her age. The other two, Parvati and Lavender…well, as soon as they had met me, they had started telling me about teachers. They both informed me that Professor Lupin was "Incredibly hot". I'd had to stifle a laugh. Hermione had nearly had to jam her fist in her mouth to control her giggles.

Everyone was very nice though. They were interested about Canada, about the schools there. Hermione or Ginny would usually deflect these questions by telling people all sorts of different things. I decided I didn't really want to know what.

The school, however, wasn't nearly as nice as the people. I got lost on my way to the Great Hall on my first day. The suits of armour walked, the people in the portraits could move, and often _did,_ and ghosts would often coming gliding through walls as you were walking past them. I very nearly walked through a ghost, Sir Nicholas, on my second day. He'd apologised profusely because I'd let out a scream and jumped about three feet sideways. I could hear him chuckling to himself after he'd left me.

Harry, Ron, Ginny and Hermione were more than a little helpful in helping me find my way around. After learning that I'd gotten lost on my way to the Great Hall, every morning they could be found waiting for me in the common room. I only had classes on three days, as my Transfiguration and Charms classes both fell on Wednesday and my Defence Against the Dark Arts classes were on Monday and Thursday. During my free time, either Sirius or Remus would be taking me to an empty classroom to give me additional lessons. 

Harry and Hermione, especially, were keen on helping me learn as much as possible as well. Harry, it turned out, was very talented at Defence Against the Dark Arts, learning as well as teaching, and offered his help whenever I needed it. He and Ron had Tuesday afternoons off and had asked if they could join us in the classroom.

It also turned out that Remus hadn't been joking about Hermione. She really _did_ spend most of her free time in the library. The first time I stepped foot in there, I thought I'd died and gone to heaven. She'd dragged me through each aisle, pulling out books that had helped her. I'd had a stack nearly as tall as Ginny by the time we got back to the common room.

"Planning on sleeping any time soon?" Harry asked, his face impassive. Ron sniggered as I dumped the books on to the table.

"Hermione recommended them," I explained. "And they all looked so fascinating that I couldn't choose which to get."

"Oh, lord, she's an older Hermione," Ron said with a grimace. Hermione swatted him across the arm while the rest of us laughed.

I enjoyed spending time with the four of them. I wanted to get to know Harry better. I'd never had cousins before; my aunt and uncle had never had children. I wasn't even sure now if they really _were _my aunt and uncle. Harry, however, wasn't a really big talker and didn't open up easily. I didn't want to push him away, so I didn't pursue the topic of his parents and the aunt that he lived with. I knew that that wasn't a happy topic.

Remus and Sirius were more than willing to tell me about Harry and his parents anyway. By the end of the first week, I knew more about James and Lily Potter than I'd ever known about my own parents. I just wished that somebody had known my mother and father. I would have liked to learn more about them.

My first triumph in one of my classes came during my first lesson, Transfiguration. I transfigured my matchstick into a needle on the second try. Everyone else was transfiguring desks into horses and quills into butterflies, but Professor McGonagall had taken me aside to show me what I should be doing.

"That's great, Julianne!" Hermione whispered ecstatically, looking over my shoulder. She gave my shoulder a squeeze. "I didn't even get it on the first try!"  
"Second," I corrected her, my face burning. Professor McGonagall smiled thinly at me.

"That was excellent, Miss Wallace," she said quietly. I knew, coming from Professor McGonagall, that was high praise.

"I'm impressed," Harry said later as we walked together toward the Great Hall. "It took me probably three weeks before I transfigured my matchstick into a needle."

"Shh, Harry," Hermione hissed. "She's supposed to be in seventh year, remember?"

My first Charms lesson wasn't as successful, but I did well enough that I didn't draw too much attention to myself and the fact that I didn't have a wand. Before I'd started, Professor McGonagall had gone to Professor Flitwick to explain about me and why I had no knowledge of magic. He seemed like a very understanding professor. I liked him.

By the end of the day I was ready to just fall into bed. Hermione smiled as we took our things back up to the dormitory. I flopped into a squashy armchair by the fire while we waited for Ginny and the two boys.

"Did you enjoy your first day?" she asked, sitting across from me. I lifted my head off the back of the chair.

"I did. It's harder than I thought it would be though."  
Hermione nodded. "I know. I found that it was harder than I thought it would be too. You did really great today though and I'm sure you'll do well tomorrow. Remus is an excellent professor. Actually, you don't really have to deal with…um…bad professors."  
My mind drifted to Professor Snape. I'd managed to get on his wrong side already. I'd been walking down the hallways with Harry, because he'd been kind enough to show me a couple short cuts. I'd run headlong into Professor Snape.

"Do pay attention!" he'd snarled, an ugly scowl creasing his colourless face. He glared down at me and brushed himself off as he walked away. I stared after him.

"Don't mind him," Harry had said softly. We started walking again. "He doesn't like anybody but Slytherin students."

I had stared at my cousin. "But I didn't do anything to him. I bumped into him, is all."  
Harry scoffed. "That's reason enough."

"How'd it go?" Ginny asked, bringing me back to the present. I grinned and told her about my day. Hermione told Ginny about my managing the matchstick into a needle on my second try. Ginny, who had been around magic her whole life, appeared to be impressed.

I didn't know for sure if they actually were, or if they were just trying to make me feel like I was doing well, but I appreciated it all the same. I felt a tiny bit out of place and I was feeling a little homesick. It would have been easier if I didn't have to pretend that I'd never met Remus before, but I understood their reasons for that. 

"What have you got tomorrow?" Ginny asked me, pulling a few books out of her bag and setting them on the table. She looked at me expectantly.

"Defence Against the Dark Arts," Hermione answered for me.

I laughed. "What she said," I agreed.

"Ooh," Ginny said with a grin. "First lesson with Professor Lupin."  
"Well, not really Ginny," Hermione said under her breath. "He did give her a lesson on Tuesday."

Ginny waved her hand. "Yeah, but that wasn't a real class. I mean, you learned just as much, I'm sure, but a real class is with other students. Will it be Remus or Sirius teaching you?"  
"Remus," I answered. He and Sirius were going to be taking turns to teach. Ginny grinned at me.

"Good. They're both excellent professors, but there's something special about Remus."

I smiled, pulling my knees up to my chest and resting my chin on them. I missed being around Remus every day.

I watched as the others pulled out books that would help them with their homework. I didn't have any myself yet. I finally sighed and opened one of the books Hermione had recommended. _Hogwarts, A History._

I lost track of everything as I started to read about everything from the four founders to the enchanted ceiling in the Great Hall to the legend of the Chamber of Secrets. I barely answered when Ginny finally said good night.

*

"Why are you shaking? Remus isn't going to ask you questions in front of everyone."

I stared at Harry and set down my goblet of pumpkin juice. It had been in danger of falling anyway.

"I don't know why I'm shaking. I am very nervous and I'm not sure why."

Harry smiled, though his features had a pinched look, as though he had a bad headache. I was about to ask when he gave my hand a squeeze.

"Don't worry. You will do fine. Defence Against the Dark Arts prowess is in your blood. I'm good at it and so was my dad. And Remus is an excellent teacher."

I nodded, picking up my goblet again. I saw Harry glance up anxiously when the morning post arrived. I quickly scanned the owls, searching for Harry's snowy owl, Hedwig. There was no sign of her. I glanced back toward Harry. His eyes were still searching the owls.

"Is everything alright, Harry?" I asked quietly. Ron's head snapped around so suddenly that he must have cricked it. 

"Something wrong?" he demanded softly. His eyes scanned Harry's face apprehensively.

Harry shook his head. "I'm fine, I was just watching for Hedwig. Not that I need to, everyone who sends me post is here. Well, except Hagrid."

Ron and Hermione exchanged a glance. I raised my eyebrows, wondering why he'd added that last comment.

I knew who Hagrid was. Remus had told me everything, finally. Hagrid had taught Care of Magical Creatures. He had stepped in front of the Killing Curse to save Harry's life and had died instantly. Just like Harry's parents. Just like mine.

I forced my mind away from that unpleasant thought. Harry had started eating his breakfast again and Ron was going on about the upcoming Quidditch match. I still had no idea about Quidditch. I had figured out it was a sport and that Harry and Ginny were the Gryffindor captains and that Ron was also on the team, but other than that, I was clueless.

"Ready for your lesson?" 

I glanced up into Sirius' dancing blue eyes. He plopped down next to Harry and helped himself to a sausage off my plate. I glared at him.

"Yes…well, sort of," I answered, looking toward Remus. He glanced around and then winked at me. I smiled to myself.

"Sort of? From what I heard, you were brilliant in your classes yesterday. Why would you think you'd be anything less today?"

I flushed, looking down at my rapidly emptying plate. I moved it out of Sirius' reach and sighed.

"I wouldn't say I was 'brilliant'-" I started.

"I would," Hermione interrupted. She shot me a look that I didn't quite understand before picking up her goblet. "And you'll be just as brilliant today, I'm sure."

I wasn't quite sure how to respond to that. I picked up my fork and looked down. My plate was gone.

"Couldn't resist," Sirius said with a grin. He handed me my empty plate and went to join Remus at the head table.

I picked up my bag from the floor when it was time to head to our class. I'd just reached the doors when I felt my bag start to slip off my shoulder. I gasped and wheeled about, meaning to grab it before it fell and spilled everywhere.

I came face to face with the sneering, rat-faced boy I'd seen my first day. He held the strap of my bag in his hand. I stared up at him.

"Get out of the way, Mudblood."

I had no idea what a Mudblood was. I continued to stare.  
"Are you deaf? I said _move_."

"You might find that 'excuse me' works wonders with me," I said quietly, finding my voice. I pulled slightly on my bag and he released it. "Add a 'please' and I would be only too happy to move."

"Shut up, Mudblood, I didn't ask for a lesson."  
"And yet that's exactly what you'll get if you don't leaver her alone, Malfoy." I felt somebody come to a halt behind me and knew that Harry and Ron had returned.

"Oh, Saint Potter, here to defend the helpless and hopeless."

Harry pulled his wand and glared at the sneering blond boy. Ron was glaring daggers at him. I glanced nervously at the apparently mute body guards that stood behind my tormentor. They were probably the same age as Harry and were twice the size of Remus.

"Harry, let's just go," I said softly, resting my hand on his arm. "He's not worth it."

"What did you just say?" Malfoy shrieked. I met his gaze frostily.

"I said that it wasn't worth it, fighting with you. You aren't worth Harry getting into trouble."

__

"How dare you," Malfoy snarled. He pulled his wand on me. I held my chin high as he advanced.

"Mr Malfoy, that is enough," a silky voice said from behind Harry. Professor Snape, the hook nosed, sallow faced, greasy haired professor who didn't like me already, moved forward. "I would hate to have to take points from my own house too. Five points from Miss Wallace for provoking Mr Malfoy."

"_Provoking?"_ I sputtered. "He was being rude and-"  
"Come on, Jules, let's just get to class," Ron interrupted, grabbing me by the arm. Harry took my other arm and the two of them led me from the Great Hall. I glared at Snape and the rat-faced boy the whole time.

"Why the hell did you do that?" I snarled, wrenching my arms from their hands. Both boys looked back at me. "That was completely unfair, he had no right to take points from me, I did nothing wrong! And _what_ is a Mudblood?"

Harry sighed as he started toward the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom. I followed him irritably, trying to hold back the angry tears that were forming.

"With Snape, it's better to keep your mouth shut," he said finally. I stared up at him as we walked. "He's completely unfair to anybody but his own students. If he can find a way to take points from other houses, especially Gryffindor, he will. Even if it means making one up."

"That's horrible," I said furiously. "He shouldn't be allowed to teach!"

"Unfortunately, he's the best Potions professor there is," Ron admitted, albeit grudgingly.

I glared ahead, not seeing. Being good at something didn't make it okay to be a jerk.

"What is a Mudblood?" I asked again.

Harry and Ron shot angry glances at each other.

"Malfoy is an idiot," Ron snarled.

"Okay," I agreed. Harry smiled slightly.

"A Mudblood is somebody with non magic parents."  
"But my-"

"Yes, we know that," Harry interrupted. "Malfoy thinks it's clever to call people Mudblood. He is constantly calling Hermione that."  
"But what does it _mean_?"

"It's the most foul thing he can call a person. Dirty blood. Malfoy thinks that unless your family is pure magic, you're not worthy. Harry, Hermione, they are not significant because their bloodline isn't completely pure," Ron explained. I glanced at Harry.

"My mother was Muggle born," he answered my unasked question. "However, both of your parents were purebloods, so I am more Mudblood than you."

Ron glared at Harry. I wanted to ask more questions, but we'd reached the classroom by then. Remus looked up at us as we entered. His eyebrows rose at the angry looks on our faces.

"What happened to you?" Hermione hissed as we made our way over to her. She already had her books and parchment spread out around her. "I was talking away and all of a sudden I look around and you're no where to be found! Where did you go?"  
"To rescue Jules," Harry said quietly. Remus stood up, his eyes still on us. "I'll explain later."  
Hermione had opened her mouth to say something else, but closed it again with a snap. We all turned our attention to Remus.

The class turned out to be quite fun. Remus was a very patient, entertaining professor. He was so at ease in front of the students that they were the same around him. 

"Miss Wallace, may I see you after class, please?" Remus called as everyone had started packing up. I nodded silently, wondering if I'd done something wrong. Hermione sent a suggestive smile in my direction. I shook my head, smiling to myself.

"You're not in trouble," he reassured me after everyone had gone and he had closed the door. I approached him slowly. He took hold of my shoulders and pulled me against his chest, kissing me deeply. I sighed when he finally released me. "I miss you."

"I miss you," I replied. "I feel so out of place."

"I know, I can see that."

"Harry and his friends are amazing, but I wish I could spend more time with you." I sighed and leaned against his chest. He kissed the top of my head.

"How were your Transfiguration and Charms lessons?"  
I told him quickly. He beamed down at me. Then his eyes turned serious once more.

"What was going on earlier? You, Ron and Harry looked pretty geared up."

I grimaced and told him about the boy named Malfoy calling me a Mudblood and about Professor Snape taking points from me. He scowled in annoyance.

"Well," he said slowly, his eyes stormy. "Five points to Gryffindor then."

"For what?"

"For catching on so quickly. Or for being beautiful. Take your pick."

I felt my face heat up. I smiled up at Remus and leaned up to give him a kiss as the door opened.

"Remus!" We both jumped apart guiltily and stared at Sirius. He closed the door and sealed it with a spell I didn't hear. "You both ought to know better! I could have been anybody! Snape, for certain, would have gone berserk!"  
"I am thirty years old," I told Sirius angrily.

"He doesn't know that, does he? As far as he knows, you are a student and Remus is a teacher. And he would have a field day with that, Jules."

I looked at the floor. I knew Sirius was right, but I still didn't like being scolded by him.

"I'm sorry," I said with difficulty. I suddenly felt like being by myself. I nodded at the two of them and left the room.

I didn't really watch where I was going. All I knew is that I wanted to be alone. I needed to do some thinking.

I wasn't overly surprised when I found myself standing outside the doors to the library. I had figured that I'd end up there on my own sooner or later.

I entered quietly, glancing around for Madam Pince, the librarian. I set my bag on a table and started down the rows, glancing at the titles. I must have searched for a quarter of an hour before one caught my eye.

I don't know how I noticed it, but I did. It was a tiny book, not much bigger than my hand, and it was simply entitled _Godric Gryffindor._ I carefully slid it off the shelf and moved back to my table. I rested my head on my bag as I opened the book and started to read.

__________________________________________________________________

Hi everyone. I know it's been nearly a month since my last update, and I do apologise…however a bad case of writer's block, as well as a new puppy, have made it hard for me to do this chapter. I know it's not as long as the others, but I hope you enjoy it and I will try to have the next chapter up by the end of the week. No promises though =). (Also, if anyone has any tips about housebreaking and maybe how to stop a puppy from digging…I would be happy to hear them!!)

As always, please review and let me know what you think!


	13. Unprovoked Attack

All characters depicted here belong to JK Rowling. I own nothing but the pleasure of writing this particular story.

****

Unprovoked Attack

I learned what Quidditch was about three weeks after I'd started at Hogwarts. I finally worked up the nerve to ask about it. Ron, Harry and Ginny had all stared at me like I'd lost my mind.

"Well, how would she know?" Hermione demanded, glaring at the three of them.

"I know, but…she's read half the library and she hasn't found one book about Quidditch?" Ron answered.

"I haven't read half the library," I protested, laughing.

"Close enough," Ginny said, also laughing. "Quidditch is our sport." She went on to explain. I sat back and listened, transfixed, as she told me about the three hoops, the scoring, the positions and the four different balls.

"And it's all played on broomstick?" I asked.

"Yes."

"That's amazing! When is your next game?"

"Next weekend," Harry answered. "Saturday."

I wrote it down in the little organiser Hermione had given me. I had been so happy when she'd given it to me, because I'd always kept track of things and had felt somewhat lost without one. I glanced up to find them all watching me.

"What?"  
"Ever since you got that book, you write _everything_ in it," Ginny answered. "Why do you keep track like that?"  
I laughed. "It's a habit I picked up at work."

"What did you do?" Hermione asked, leaning forward eagerly.

"Nothing exciting, I'm afraid," I answered. "I worked as the receptionist at a building company."

"A what?" Ron asked, looking confused. Harry chuckled to himself.

"She answered telephones and booked meetings and appointments and greeted people," Hermione explained quickly. "Basically."

"I started there when I was twenty one. A friend started it and asked me if I would be interested in working. I had no experience, but he figured I could learn easy enough and I was cheaper than someone who knew what they were doing. And I needed a job.

"I was good at it. I enjoyed it too, but Noah didn't like me being around the men every day, so he made me quit. I was there for just over seven years."

"What did you do after that?"

I smiled bitterly. "Sat at home. Got fat and lazy. Shaved my head completely bald for charity. Actually, that was fun, so I don't regret doing that."

I saw them all look at my shoulder length dark hair and knew they were trying to picture me bald.

"I looked like a white bowling ball."

Hermione giggled as the image floated across her mind. I let her laugh at me for a moment.

"How come you and Noah didn't get married?" Harry asked quietly.

I sat back, studying him for a moment. I'd been expecting the question, but still didn't have an answer for it.

"We weren't really together all that long," I answered slowly. "Not quite two years. It started off okay. We met through a mutual friend, one who knew that I had my grandmother's house and that he needed a place to stay, so we started out as roommates. We started dating not long after. All my friends thought we were a great couple, but soon I started seeing less and less of them. Noah didn't really like my friends, so we didn't hang around them. He also didn't like for me to be around _his_ friends because he felt they were all trying to…get together with me, so we stopped seeing them as well. I should have seen that as a warning sign, I suppose. But at the time, you don't really think too much of it. I didn't anyway.

"After about a year, we started fighting all the time. We got into a stupid argument and he hit me. I ran out and when I came back, he apologised. He was crying so hard that I felt bad and I told him that I would stay, but if he hit me again, I was gone. I think…now…I know that that's when I knew I would never marry him. I don't care if it was a one time thing…my trust for Noah was gone that night.

"But I stayed and it didn't happen again. Well, except for one day when we were playing football and he smacked me in the mouth, but he swore it was an accident."

"What happened the night that you met Remus?" Hermione asked quietly.

I shook my head. "I don't know. We were fighting. I wanted to go back to work because I was bored. I'd been stuck at home for so long…just over a year. My hair had even grown back by then. But he told me that there was no way in hell I was ever going back to the building company. I said something sort of nasty to him because I'm…not all that bright sometimes…and he slapped me. I pushed him away and then he beat me up."  
I looked at my hands, not wanting to look at them. I hated feeling their pity and I didn't want to see proof of it in their eyes. I hadn't meant to tell them my sad story. It had just come pouring out as soon as I'd mentioned my job.

"Did you want to be a receptionist?" Hermione asked. I looked up at her, grateful for the subject change.

"No," I said with a chuckle. "I hated the entire idea of being a receptionist to start with. I didn't like the idea of answering telephones and always having to have a smile on my face. But like I said, I turned out to be pretty good at it. And after I knew what I was doing, I really enjoyed it."

"What did you want to do before that?" Ron asked.

"I wanted to be a teacher." I smiled. "I didn't know what I wanted to teach, but I always wanted to be a teacher."

"How come-" Harry stopped speaking, his head snapping around. The portrait had suddenly swung open so violently that it bounced off the wall. We all turned to stare, watching as Remus, Sirius and Professor McGonagall entered. All three of them were ashen faced. Ron and Ginny were on their feet in an instant.

"Is it Dad?" Ginny demanded, the colour slowly fading from her cheeks. Professor McGonagall shook her head. She looked directly at Hermione as they advanced across the room.

"Miss Granger, we must speak with you," she said softly. I could see a couple other students staring at us from the other side of the common room. Hermione turned stark white and seemed to shrink into her chair.

"What is it?" Ron demanded, moving over to stand behind Hermione's chair. "What's happened?"  
Hermione started to tremble. I reached over and took her hand. Her grip was painful, but I didn't say anything. Ron pulled a chair over and sat next to Hermione, his hand on her shoulder.

"Mr Weasley, we need to speak to Miss Granger alone."  
I stared up at Remus, who remained silent. His jaw was set and he looked as though he had the weight of the world on his shoulders. He didn't look my way.

"I can't," Hermione whispered. "No, please, I can't hear it."

"Miss Granger, you need to come with me."

"No," Hermione said again, a little louder. "I can't stand it. Please; I don't want to know."

Sirius crouched down in front of her and looked up into her face. 

"Hermione, there is something we need to tell you and I don't think it's something you wish to learn in front of the whole of Gryffindor house."

Harry, Ron and Ginny were on their feet in an instant and moved as one to the other side of the room. I heard Ron tell a younger student that he had to leave the common room. I watched, amazed, as people packed their bags and left, one by one.  
The three of them moved back to us. Hermione was nearly crushing my fingers, but I stayed quiet. Her teeth had started to chatter.

"There, nobody can hear you," Harry told Sirius furiously. "Tell her."

Hermione shook her head, her eyes wide and panicked. There was no question of whether Harry, Ron or Ginny should leave. The grip that Hermione had on my hand made me think that she didn't want me to leave either. Ginny moved beside her and took her other hand.

"It's your parents, Hermione," Sirius whispered. I held my breath and closed my eyes, hoping…

"They have been attacked by Death Eaters."

I heard Ginny gasp as Hermione gripped my hand even tighter. I felt a searing pain shoot up my hand and figured that she'd just broken at least one of my fingers.

"Are they okay?" she asked mildly.

Remus shook his head. "Your father has died, Hermione."

"But…my mum…What about my mum?" Hermione asked. Her face showed no emotion. Her eyes remained clear. Only the grip she had on my hand and on Ginny's hand showed her true feelings.

"She is alive," Remus said quietly, pulling a chair closer and sitting across from Hermione. "She is in very bad shape, but she is alive."

Hermione nodded slowly.

"Did they use the Cruciatus Curse on them?"

"Yes," Sirius answered.

"What about the Imperious Curse?"

Professor McGonagall nodded.

"And I suppose my father died by Avada Kedavra."

I knew that they couldn't believe how calm she was being, how she just asked questions. I also knew that if she didn't ask questions, she would probably fall apart and that was the last thing she wanted to do in front of all of us.

Remus shook his head.

"No," he said softly. "He didn't die by Avada Kedavra."

"Then how-?"  
"I think that's something that can wait," Professor McGonagall interrupted sharply. Hermione ignored her. She turned her eyes to Sirius and gave him a beseeching look.

"How?"  
"The Cruciatus Curse," Sirius answered after a moment, his voice reluctant. Hermione stared at him and her eyes finally filled with tears.

"They tortured him to death?" she asked, her breath catching on a sob. "Why? Why them? Whatever did they do? They're dentists!"

She pulled her hands back and covered her face. I could hear her take a deep breath. Nobody said anything.

"Because I am a witch," she answered herself softly. "They were tortured because of me. Oh, Daddy, I'm so sorry."

She stood abruptly and pulled her hands away from her face. I had to look away. Her eyes were dry again, but blazing with hate and rage. "Who was it?"  
"Bartemius Crouch, Jr," Remus answered. "Rabastan and Rodolphus Lestrange. We suspect…" He didn't finish. He looked at his hands.

"Peter Pettigrew," Hermione finished for him. She stood stock still for a moment and then, as though in slow motion, fell to her knees. She gasped and the flood gates opened. Ron started toward her, but Harry reached her first. He pulled her into his arms and she buried her face against his shoulder.

I stood and moved toward Remus, wiping the tears from my eyes as I did so. I couldn't bear to look at Hermione. Her anguish washed over the rest of us like a cold rain.

Remus took my hand when I reached him. There were tears sparkling in his eyes. I wrapped my arms around him and he held me close for a moment.

"When did it happen?" I asked softly.

"Last night."

I nodded, looking over at Hermione. She was clutching the front of Harry's robes, still crying against his shoulder. Harry slowly rocked her, whispering words that the rest of us couldn't hear. Ginny had moved over and taken her brother's hand. Ron, too, had tears in his eyes.

"Why did they do it?"

Remus looked down at me. He sighed and took the hand that Hermione had maimed. I cringed as his fingers closed lightly around it.

"Because we are at war," he answered. "And because they don't fight fair." He glanced over at Hermione and Harry then lowered his voice even more. "And because Hermione is Harry's friend."

I stared at Remus, my mouth hanging open. I closed it with a snap.

"What? They attacked her parents because she's friends with Harry?" I couldn't believe that.

Remus nodded. "Voldemort is trying to bring Harry out. Molly and Arthur are going into hiding, as are the rest of the Weasleys. However, as Arthur is Minister for Magic, it will be harder to keep him safe. We might have to place a Secret Keeper Charm or a Protector Charm."

I opened my mouth to say something else when Remus gave my hand a squeeze. I gasped out loud. He frowned and looked down at it.

"What happened to your hand?" he demanded. I shook my head.

"I was holding Hermione's hand when Sirius told her," I answered quietly. "I don't think she realised how tight she was gripping."

He brought my hand up to peer at it intently. He gently moved my pinkie finger. I grimaced. Remus winced with sympathy.

"I can't believe she broke your finger," he muttered incredulously. "I wouldn't have thought Hermione would have that sort of physical strength."

"It's alright," I said.

"Let's go down to see Madam Pomfrey. She'll be able to fix it for you."

I shook my head. "Let's stay and see if we can't help Hermione first."

Remus looked at me for a moment before nodding. He pointed his wand at my hand.

__

"Ferula." he muttered. I watched the gauze wrap itself tightly around my two fingers before I turned back to Hermione. Ron had moved and had now taken her into his arms. Harry had climbed to his feet and was moving toward us. He was absolutely livid.

He didn't stop when he reached us, but grabbed Remus by the arm and moved toward the portrait hole. Remus still had hold of my good hand and wouldn't let go when I tried to pull away, so I had no choice but to follow. Harry also grabbed Sirius by the arm as we passed.

"What's the idea, Harry?" Sirius demanded crossly when Harry followed us through the portrait hole. Harry glared around at the three of us.

"Her parents were attacked because of me, weren't they?"

Remus and Sirius both looked away from Harry. I saw pain flash in Harry's eyes briefly before it was gone again.

"What does he want?"

"He wants you." Remus returned his gaze to Harry's. "He is trying to bring you out from under Dumbledore's protection. He's trying to force you into a confrontation."

Harry's jaw clenched. "So he's going after the family of my friends. Have you let Arthur and Mrs Weasley know?"

Sirius nodded. "They should be at…my house by now. Bill and the twins are also on their way there and Charlie has been notified."

I hated seeing the pain in Harry's eyes; hated the haunted look that was starting to creep into them.

"This isn't your fault, Harry," Sirius said softly. Harry glared at him.

"I wish people would stop saying that!" he snarled, the aura of power that I could always sense around him spreading. "You weren't my fault, Hagrid wasn't my fault and now _this_ isn't my fault. And yet it is all _because of me_, isn't it?"

"It is because you are the only person who can defeat Voldemort, Harry, that much is true and I'm sure he knows it, but it's not because of you," Remus answered quietly. "It is because Voldemort is hungry for power and will stop at nothing to get it, and you pose a threat to him, a threat that he wishes to eliminate."

I stared at Remus. I couldn't believe he was saying that.

"Well, what does he need to do to stop him?" I asked before I could stop myself. "What do _we_ need to do?"

Remus swallowed before answering. "That's just it, Jules. We don't know."

*

Remus went with Hermione, Ron, Ginny and Harry to the funeral for Hermione's dad. He went to protect them and also to offer his support to Hermione. They had asked me if I wanted to come, but I thought I should stay behind to attend my classes. I needed to learn everything I could if I wanted to help defeat this sadistic wizard.

Sirius stayed behind to teach the classes and to help me with my studies. He sighed at the end of our Tuesday lesson and sat on the desk.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

He shook his head. He was absently rubbing his arm that I knew had been burned when the hospital had been destroyed. I started packing my books into my bag.

"When I was here, as a student, the most we worried about was what we were going to do at the next full moon," Sirius said suddenly. I stopped packing my bag and looked up at him. "We knew about Voldemort, of course, but he wasn't all powerful then and we weren't too worried about him. 'Dumbledore can handle it', we'd say. But here it is, more than twenty years later and he's still here. Granted he wasn't really here for a very long time, but he wasn't vanquished either."

He turned to me, eyes blazing. "I want him gone, Julianne. I want to end the threat of terror. For the sake of the world. But mostly for Harry's sake. This war is killing him."

"Then we have to find a spell that will bring him down," I said calmly. "Do you think there might be something in the library?"

Sirius shook his head. "I doubt it. They tried to bring him down the same way they brought Grindelwald down. He was the most powerful dark wizard ever, before Voldemort. But Voldemort laughed and just brushed that curse aside."

"Why is he coming after Harry?"  
"He is coming after Harry because he needs Harry out of the way. With Harry's death, Voldemort will be immortal, invincible. Harry is the only one who can vanquish Voldemort."

"Then while Harry is away, _we_ should see if we can find something. They said you were a prisoner of war. How did you get out?"  
Sirius raised his eyebrows at me. "I wasn't really a prisoner of war. I was trapped in limbo."

"Limbo?"  
"The plane between alive and dead."

I stared at him. "The what?"

Sirius scoffed. "I fell through a veil that didn't kill me, but didn't keep me alive either. I was stuck in limbo for a year until Remus, Harry, Ron, Ginny and Hermione got me out."

"How?"

Sirius' forehead creased as he thought about it.

"I don't remember," he answered. "I…collapsed not long after and I don't remember much of anything from that night."

I wasn't too sure what to say. I knew Sirius wouldn't want my pity any more than I wanted his.

"Anyway," he said a moment later. "We'll have to ask Remus how they brought the veil down when he gets back. He plans to be back the day after tomorrow."  
"What about the others?"

Sirius shook his head. "I don't know, Jules. Hermione might be off for a while."

I nodded. "I figured that."

"I know Harry is eager to look in the library again. He said they've searched before, but didn't find anything. I am not entirely sure what a second search will find, but who knows? We might get lucky."

I smiled grimly. I somehow doubted that.

I raised my eyes to Sirius' troubled blue eyes.

"Is there any chance of success, Sirius?"

He studied me silently for a moment and then slowly shook his head.

"Not likely."

*

Remus returned a few days later. I was wandering up an aisle in the library when he suddenly wrapped his arms around me from behind. I whipped around, my hand out in front of me. He smiled at me.

"Remus!" I cried, hugging him. "How is Hermione?"  
He shook his head. "She's hurting, Jules. She's _very_ angry."

"I don't blame her."

"I don't either." He sighed and rested his chin on top of my head. "She's gone to be with her mum for now. She's in a Muggle hospital, but we're hoping we can have her transferred here. Albus said something about bringing in one of the surviving Healers from St. Mungo's. I'm sure Madam Pomfrey could handle it, but Albus would prefer somebody with more expertise in Curse injuries."

I nodded. While I had no doubts about Madam Pomfrey's abilities; she had mended my broken finger in half a heartbeat; I could see where Albus was coming from. It would be better to have a professional.

"Harry and Ginny came back with me, though," Remus was saying. I blinked up at him.

"Sorry?" 

He chuckled. "I thought you'd tuned me out. I said that Ron had gone with Hermione and Ginny and Harry came back with me. Harry is eager to get into the library. I'm actually surprised he didn't come here first, but he did have some things to put away."

"How did you even know I was here?"  
"Sirius told me that you'd been in here before and after every class, searching for something that would help."

"I haven't found a thing," I admitted sadly.

"I know."

"I'm not even sure where to begin."

"I've been fighting him all my life," Harry said, coming around the end of the row. "And I still don't know where to begin. Don't worry about it, Jules."

"I want to help though."

Harry smiled. "I know you do, and I appreciate it." He turned to Remus. "I just talked to Professor Dumbledore. He said that he spoke with a Healer and Mrs Granger will be transferred here as soon as possible."

Remus heaved a sigh of relief. "Good. I think a magical Healer would know how to deal with Mrs Granger's injuries better than a Muggle doctor."

Harry nodded in agreement. I started to wander down the row again, searching in the books.

"We might have better luck if we looked in the Restricted Section," Harry said suddenly, watching me search. He turned to Remus. "What do you think?"  
"I think it couldn't hurt," Remus agreed. He went to find Madam Pince, leaving Harry and I alone.

"How are you?" I asked him, not sure what to say. He smiled tightly.

"I've been better. I can't help feel _so_ guilty about Hermione's parents."

"Harry, it-" I had been about to tell him it wasn't his fault, but something stopped me. Maybe it was his reaction from the other day. "It is a part of war," I said instead. "Innocents get attacked. Innocents die. It's something that you have no control over and it's why war is wrong." I gritted my teeth. "It's why Voldemort must be stopped."

Harry looked at me, his eyes narrowed. "I know he has to be stopped." He growled in frustration. "I want to know _how_. I also wish Professor Dumbledore would help me find a way."

"Well, Remus will help, and Sirius will help. Albus said that Sirius was the best student Hogwarts ever saw, and he said Remus was a good student too, so maybe the two of them will be able to come up with something."

Harry chuckled. "Maybe."

We both wandered over to a table to wait for Remus. He wasn't gone too long. He came back with a few books, but nothing that sounded too helpful.

"Well, what did you expect?" he asked sourly when Harry pointed this out. "A book called _How to Bring Down Voldemort_? We have to find it, it's not going to be handed to us."

Harry glowered at Remus but pulled one of the books his way and started flipping through it.

"I just think that we're overlooking something," he complained a while later, slamming the book closed. "I think it's something so _simple_, so _obvious_ but we can't see it because we're searching for something big. And it's driving me mad!"

Remus sighed and closed his book as well. I kept flipping through mine, but it wasn't helping me at all.

"What do you think we're overlooking?"

Harry growled angrily. "I don't _know,_ that's just it. I wish Dumbledore would help us. He's got experience against dark wizards, look at what he did against Grindelwald."

"Harry, Professor Dumbledore is doing everything he can do to help us. He is fighting Voldemort every day. And his experience with Grindelwald didn't help us in the fight against Voldemort."

"Well there must be _something_ he knows; some way that he could help us." Remus opened his mouth. "Help _me_ then. Help me find a way to bring him down."

"I'm sure if there were some way, Harry, Albus would be doing it," I said quietly, finally closing my book. "He doesn't strike me as the kind of man who would sit back and let innocent people die."

Harry turned to look at me, the anger slowly draining from his eyes. He nodded.

"You're right," he agreed softly. "He wouldn't do that." He stood and slid the book back into the pile. "I need to take a walk. Maybe that will help me think. Can you bring the books you find helpful back to the common room?"

Remus and I both nodded. Harry turned and left the library.

****

__________________________________________________________________

Yay, I kept my promise of within the week!! Thanks for the reviews (and the puppy tips) everyone. The next one might take a bit longer because I'm stuck again. It will be up before the end of the month though. (I'm finding if I give myself deadlines, it helps…haha) Anyway, please enjoy (as much as you can, it's kind of sad) this chapter and let me know what you think.


	14. Think Happy Thoughts

All characters depicted here belong to JK Rowling. I own nothing but the pleasure of writing this particular story.

****

Think Happy Thoughts

We continued to search the library as often as we could. I was in there the most, as I had the least classes. When Remus or Sirius didn't have a class, they would join me. It was not going well. We weren't finding anything helpful.

Hermione came back to school about a week after her father died. The girl who returned was not the girl who had left, but that was to be expected.

"Ron and Hermione are back," Ginny whispered to me in the common room after my Charms lesson one day. "She's been up in the hospital wing since she got back. She is making sure her mum is settled. Ron said she says hi and she'll see us later at dinner."

"Okay," I said back, hurrying up to the dormitory to drop my books off. Ginny was waiting with Harry and Ron, who had returned to the school with Hermione. We left the common room and hurried down to the Great Hall.

Hermione was not there yet, so we sat at the table to wait for her. Ron was just asking what was happening at the school when Ginny let out a gasp. I looked up.

Hermione was coming toward us. She appeared to have taken her anger out on her hair. Once so long and bushy, she had cut it to about chin length and straightened it. It looked incredible, but it was a surprise to see Hermione like that. She didn't usually care about her hair.

Even more surprising was the blazing, savage look in her eyes. A haunted, lethal look. 

I had expected anger. But Hermione wasn't angry. 

She was deadly.

"Hello, everyone," she said calmly as she joined us. She smiled a smile that didn't reach her eyes. "I don't suppose anybody thought to get my homework for me?"

Harry blinked at her in surprise.

"I did actually," he answered. "Your hair looks nice."

"Thanks," she answered, again smiling that deadened smile. "It made me angry, so I cut it off."

Ginny's eyebrows rose at that, but she said nothing. She glanced at me then back down to her plate.

"So have you found anything in the library on Voldemort?"

Harry and I both shook our heads.

"Nothing," I answered, looking away from her. The loathing in her eyes was somewhat disquieting.

Hermione scoffed as she poured herself a cup of coffee. Her eyes skated around the room and came to rest on somebody. They started to blaze with hatred. I glanced up to see who she was looking at.

Draco Malfoy, the blonde, rat-faced boy who had called me a Mudblood, was sitting at his table and was obviously mocking Hermione. He was making mock crying faces and would then laugh in her direction. Hermione sat and stared at him, a flush slowly creeping up her neck into her cheeks.

"Think you're funny, do you? Okay. I am going to come after you then," she said so quietly that I was sure I was mistaken. Harry looked up from his plate. "I am going to make you suffer just as much as you have made me suffer. Your Lord took my father from me. _I_ am going to take _everything_ from you."

I watched Malfoy's eyes widen. He was on his feet and had moved to the head table and to Professor Snape before I even looked away from him.

"How-?" Ginny started. Hermione turned her hate-filled eyes on Ginny.

"How did he hear me?" 

Ginny nodded mutely.

"Communication Charm," Harry answered. He was looking at Hermione as though he'd never seen her before. "When did you learn that?"

"I've been able to do it for a long time, Harry," she answered matter-of-factly. "What have we been learning in our classes? And how are your classes going?"

Hermione turned to me and almost looked like her old self again. I was about to answer her when a shadow fell across our table. I glanced up into the black eyes of Professor Snape.

"Mister Malfoy has just been to me with an interesting story, Miss Granger," he said softly.

"I'm sure he has," Hermione responded sweetly. "Malfoy has all sorts of 'interesting stories', hasn't he? Most would call them lies, except you. You seem to think everything he says is true." She smiled a sugary sweet smile at Snape. "Strange, really, especially considering his _night_ job."

Harry and Ron were staring, open mouthed, at Hermione. Ginny was staring up at Snape, paralysed with fear. I waited for Snape to explode.

His eyes narrowed dangerously and he rested his hands on the table, leaning down until he and Hermione were almost nose to nose. 

"What, exactly, are you implying, Miss Granger?"

Hermione, showing no fear whatsoever, rolled her eyes. "I am implying, quite obviously, _Professor_ Snape, that Malfoy is a Death Eater. Deny it, why don't you."

Snape's eyes flashed furiously and he gritted his teeth.

"You need to be more careful, Miss Granger, of whom you accuse of being a Death Eater."

"Why is that?" Hermione asked innocently.

"Because you might start something you can't finish, you stupid girl."

"Don't call her stupid!" I snapped. Snape glowered in my direction but said nothing.

"So, _Professor_ Snape _sir_, what sort of 'interesting story' did Malfoy have this time?"

"He said you had threatened him, Miss Granger."

"I see," Hermione said slowly. "And of course you_ would_ take the word of a Death Eater over the word of a Mudblood. I've been over here since I came into the Great Hall. How, exactly, would I have threatened him?"

"I'm sure you know-" 

"Severus, that is quite enough."

Each of us looked up into the angry blue eyes of Professor Dumbledore. He was staring at Snape and absolutely radiated fury.

"Headmaster-" Snape began.

"I don't wish to hear it, Severus. Go back to your dinner." Snape scowled at Albus but did as he was told. Albus turned to Hermione. "I'm very pleased to see you back so soon, Miss Granger. I would hope that you aren't causing problems, as that is very unlike you."

Hermione smiled at the Headmaster. "I'm doing nothing of the sort, sir."

Albus smiled back. "Good." He nodded at each of us and moved back to the head table. I saw Snape lean over and start muttering furiously in his ear.

Hermione stood abruptly and stalked off without a word. Each of us abandoned our dinners and jumped up to follow her. Not surprisingly, she was moving up the staircase that led to the library.

"Hermione?" Harry called. She stopped, her back stiff. "Where are you going?"  
"I'm tired of this war, Harry," she answered, her voice full of tears. "I'm going to find something to stop it. Dumbledore can sit as though in limbo and let this happen, but I won't stand for it."  
I let out a gasp. Hermione's mention of limbo had reminded me. I couldn't believe I'd forgotten.

"How did you get Sirius out?" I asked suddenly. Each of them turned to stare at me. I flushed. "Hermione's mention of limbo reminded me. Sirius couldn't remember and I wanted to know. How did you get him out?"

"The crystals," Harry answered. "We each had a crystal to…boost…our…Hermione!"

Hermione stared at him, her eyebrows raised. "What?"

"We use the crystals," Harry explained. "It will boost Avada Kedavra."

Hermione's nose wrinkled as she thought about this. She shook her head. "I don't think boosting Avada Kedavra will do it, Harry."

"Well, it's a start," Ron said, moving up the stairs. I could see the cogs starting to turn in his head. "We can build on it."

We started up the stairs again. Harry and Hermione were discussing curses that might work on Voldemort. We stopped as Sirius came around the corner. He stopped as well.

"Where are you off to?" he asked.

"The library," Hermione answered. He smiled.

"I figured as much," he said softly. He stepped forward and pulled Hermione into a quick hug. "How are you?"

She smiled. "I'm dealing with it," she answered quietly. "I am focusing on bringing Voldemort down."

Something that looked like concern flashed in Sirius' eyes, but he didn't comment. He gave Hermione another hug and then turned to me.

"We're going to be trying the Patronus Charm for your next class with Remus and me," he told me. I stared at him.

"Kind of jumping around a bit, aren't you?" Hermione asked at the same time I said,

"The what?"

Sirius smiled tightly at Hermione. "A bit, yes. But Dumbledore wants her to know how to do one before we teach her anything else." He turned to me, his smile widening. "Patronus Charm. You'll see. We'll have Harry show you his."

Harry flushed slightly and grinned at me. I grinned back and started up the stairs after Hermione.

*

"So what, exactly, is the Patronus Charm?" I asked as soon as Remus and Sirius entered the deserted classroom. I had been so curious that I'd asked them to show me that night. Remus grinned at me.

"You've heard of Dementors right?" Sirius asked, his voice harsh. I gaped at him.

"Yes, Harry told me about them."

"Well, the Dementors joined forces with Voldemort and are wandering the streets, going after innocent Muggles and wizards. If you meet with one, you need to be able to defend yourself against them. And the way to do that is with the Patronus Charm."

I looked around as Harry and Ron entered the room. 

__

"Colloportus," Harry said, sealing the door behind him.

"Where are Ginny and Hermione?" Sirius asked.

"Hermione's a bit tired and a little sad," Ron answered. "She's gone to bed. I think Ginny's working on some homework."

"What do the Dementors do?" I asked. Harry's face darkened.

"They're foul creatures," he answered. "They suck every happy thought out of you, drain you of your happiness, your will to live. You feel like you'll never be happy again when a Dementor is around." He rolled up his sleeves as he told me this. "The only way to defend yourself against them is with the Patronus Charm, which is, basically, happiness. It's everything the Dementor feeds on, but because it can't feel pain, the Dementor can't hurt it."

I stared at Harry. I could see Remus out of the corner of my eye and I noticed that he was absolutely beaming with pride. I smiled to myself and glanced at Sirius. He, too, was smiling at Harry.

"Well, go on," he said to Harry. "Show her how it's done."

Harry flushed slightly and I saw his eyes screw up with concentration. He raised his wand.

"_Expecto Patronum!"_ he cried. I let out a yelp as a silver stag erupted from the end of his wand and galloped silently around the room. It came to a halt in front of me and dipped it's antlered head twice before evaporating into a fine silver mist and then disappearing completely. I stared at the space where the stag had been before looking up.

"That was the most incredible thing I've ever seen," I whispered. "I felt like it was saying hello to me!"

Harry smiled. "He probably was. That was Prongs."

"Prongs?"

Remus smiled. "You would know him as James Potter."

I remembered the day that Remus and Sirius told me about becoming Animagi. I remembered them saying that James had become a stag.

"That was my uncle?"

Sirius nodded. "In Animagi form, yes." He smiled at Harry. "He is Harry's protector."

"Does the Charm change with everyone?" I asked.

Remus nodded. "Each is unique to the wizard or witch who casts it."

"What are yours?"

"A bear sized dog," Remus answered.

"A wolf," Sirius replied.

"And yours, Ron?" I asked.

"We're not sure yet," he answered quietly. "I haven't really been able to make the Patronus Charm work."

"Oh."

"You'll get it, Ron," Sirius said kindly. "Just keep practising."

"How do you cast it?" I asked eagerly. I wanted to see if I could make the Patronus work. Obviously it was harder to do than it looked if Ron couldn't do it. I also couldn't help but wonder what my Patronus would be.

"You think of something very happy," Harry answered. "The happiest memory you can remember. And then you say '_Expecto Patronum'._"

"Expecto Patronum. Okay."

I sat down on a desk, trying to think of something very happy. I was drawing a blank.

"Come on, Jules," Sirius finally said with a laugh. "I would think for you it would be obvious. Finding out magic is real."

"Oh, right. That would work, wouldn't it," I said, feeling more than a little stupid.

I tried to remember how I had felt, realising that Remus was a wizard. How it felt when I'd realised _I_ was a witch. I felt my stomach squirm with excitement.

"Okay," I said. "I've got my memory. Expecto Patronum."

I held my hand out, concentrating on my memory. Nothing happened.

"Hmm." Remus approached me, frowning slightly. "Try holding your hand like this." He demonstrated, his arm stretched out in front of him, palm down, fingers spread slightly. "That's how that book shows Godric Gryffindor doing it. If I remember, that's also how you hold your hand when you're not really paying attention and just going on instinct and that's when it generally works best for you."

I held my hand the way he showed me. I hadn't realised he'd read the book too. I also hadn't realised that he watched me that closely.

"Like this?" I asked, trying to remember the picture in the book.

"Perfect."

I started thinking about being a witch again. 

"Expecto Patronum!" I cried. Again, nothing. "Am I doing it wrong? Saying it wrong?"

They all shook their heads. I bit my lip.

"Maybe you need a different memory."

I glanced at Ron and nodded, trying to think of another memory.

It came to me in an instant. Remus, rushing through the door, rescuing me from Noah. My heart nearly burst when I pictured it.

"Expecto Patronum!" I cried. My arm tingled and I felt my hand warm up. A silvery mist whooshed from the ends of my fingers. "Cool!"

Harry and Ron laughed at my somewhat childish reaction, but I hadn't been able to help it. It was a neat feeling.

"Can I try it again?"

"Of course," Remus said with a chuckle. "But remember that it's harder against actual Dementors."

"Of course."

I concentrated on my happy memory with all my might. I didn't hear the door swing open behind us.

"How-?"  
"What's going on here?"

I swung around just as I cried, "_Expecto Patronum!"_

My arm felt like it was crackling with electricity. A silver griffin erupted out of my fingertips, straight at Professor Snape. It lowered it's head and charged him. He let out a shout and jumped to the side. The griffin turned and charged around the room a few times before evaporating into thin air.

Sirius burst out laughing at the look on Snape's face. Ron and Harry both started sniggering.

"I'm sorry!" I cried. "I didn't do it on purpose; I was already casting the Charm when you spoke and you startled me!"

Snape scowled as he brushed his robes off. He glared at Sirius, who was still laughing, and at Ron and Harry, who had both covered their mouths with their hands to hide the fact they were laughing. Only Remus and I weren't laughing.

"How did you open the door, Severus?" Remus asked.

"Please," Snape snarled, waving a hand impatiently. "_Colloportus _has a counter spell, which you know very well, Lupin."

"Yes, but not one of us heard you use it."

"You were busy, weren't you." His eyes slid over to me. "The Patronus Charm in seventh year? Why didn't she know it before?"

"They don't teach it till seventh year in Canada," I said quickly.

"I see…and why are you only taking three classes?"

"Because that's all Professor Dumbledore wished for me to take."

"Where is your wand?"

"What's with the inquisition, Snivellus?" Sirius demanded angrily. "Your _boss_ put you up to it?"

Snape turned to face Sirius, his eyes burning.

"My _boss_ is the same person _your_ boss is, Black. Like it or not, and I assure you I am not fond of the idea, we are on the same side."

"So then why are questioning Jules? What's it to you?"  
"I want to know why you're in a deserted classroom after seven showing her the Patronus Charm, is all."

"Because, like she explained, she is a little behind us and wanted some extra help," Harry snarled. "That isn't a crime is it?"

Snape ignored Harry completely. He turned his back to both Harry and Ron and looked at me again.

"Where is your wand, Miss Wallace?"

I stared into his pallid face and didn't answer. Behind Snape, Ron held his wand up and gestured for me to take it.

"Where is your wand?"

My arms were down at my side. Would it work? I opened my hand and concentrated on Ron's wand.

"Leave her alone, Severus," Remus said quietly, angrily. "She's doing nothing wrong."

Snape turned his attention to Remus. I concentrated harder on Ron's wand and flexed my fingers a little. It left his hand and soared into mine.

"If she wishes to take extra lessons, it's not a crime. If I am willing to teach her, what business is it of yours?"

"It is my business because I just witnessed her do a Patronus Charm without a wand!"

"What _are_ you talking about?" I asked. "I've got a wand."

Snape turned back to me, his eyes narrowed. I held up Ron's wand.

"See?"

Snape stared at Ron's wand for a moment. I was terrified that he would recognise it but he finally nodded and stalked out of the room without another word.

"_Colloportus," _Harry said again, sealing the door. I handed Ron's wand back to him.

"Thanks," I said. "I don't know why I didn't just tell him I don't need a wand."

"Because he's an evil git," Ron answered me. Sirius and Harry both laughed. I smiled and glanced at Remus.

"It's good that you didn't," Remus said softly. "He doesn't need to know."

"I still don't trust him," Sirius said savagely. "I don't care what Dumbledore says, Snape isn't to be trusted."

"He is on our side, Sirius," Remus said patiently. "Dumbledore trusts him. You don't have to trust him, but you can't go around accusing him of being a Death Eater."  
"Remus, he _is_ a Death Eater," Harry pointed out. I stared at him.

"What-?"

"He is a Death Eater, yes, but he is _on our side._ You know he is a spy for the Order…um…our side."

"Order?" I asked. Remus' eyes widened.

"Nice going," Sirius said with a grin. I glared at him.

"What's the Order?"

"Our side," Remus said again. "I can't tell you anything more, Jules."  
"Okay."

I would have pouted, but something on his face told me that he'd already told me more than he should have.

Nobody said anything for a moment. Then,

"So that was a cool Patronus," Ron said awkwardly. 

"You picked it up fast," Harry added. "It took me forever to get it."  
"You were also practicing against a Boggart, Harry," Remus said. "So, in effect, you were practicing against a Dementor. I'm sure you could have done it that quickly too if not for that."  
"What's a Boggart?"  
"A shape shifter," Sirius explained. "It takes the shape of whatever it figures will scare you the most."  
I raised my eyebrows. "Wonderful. Can't wait to meet one of those."

I found out the next morning that Snape wasn't one who liked to be made a fool of. Every time I turned around, he was there. It started when I entered the Great Hall, and then he'd been in the Entrance Hall when I left the Great Hall, then he'd followed us up to our Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom. Hermione shot a glare at him as we entered the class.

He flustered me so much that I made a mistake in Defence Against the Dark Arts and ended up setting fire to my backpack. I had no idea how I'd done it, but Harry burst into laughter as he poured water from his wand over my flaming bag.

"It's not funny, Harry!" I said a while later when he burst into another fit of silent giggles. Hermione just rolled her eyes at him.

"Harry, what is so funny?" Remus asked a while later, looking up from the stack of parchment he was marking. Harry burst into another fit of laughter and had to jam his fist into his mouth.

"I set my bag on fire," I answered. "Harry thinks that's the funniest thing on earth."

Remus' mouth twitched at the corners. I glared at him, daring him to laugh at me too.

"The fire has been extinguished?"

"Yes, this prat put it out," Hermione answered, pointing at Harry. He stopped laughing long enough to pout at her.

"Hmm." The class ended then. "Could I speak to the four of you please?"

Harry sobered very quickly. I could feel him tense as we packed our things and moved over in front of Remus' desk. He surveyed us silently for a moment.

"I am happy that you are having fun in class," he said quietly. "But you need to contain yourselves because things like that can be distracting. Yes, Harry I know it doesn't happen often, but once is enough. You need to concentrate on your studies because you have your NEWTs coming up, and Jules needs to learn everything she can."

The four of us nodded silently. It felt slightly surreal to be getting in trouble in school again.

"Now, on a lighter note, how would the four of you, and Ginny, like to meet Sirius and I in the Entrance Hall at midnight?"

We all looked up, eyebrows raised. I automatically started to shake my head. Any time but midnight would be fine.

"Midnight?" Hermione repeated sceptically. "Why midnight?"  
Remus grinned wolfishly. "Because Jules has a fear of midnight."

I flushed, giving Remus a dirty look. "Thanks, Remus."

He laughed. "That's not really the reason. I want to show Jules something and I thought the rest of you would enjoy it as well. Plus I need Hermione's help with it."

Hermione's eyebrows rose slightly and I could see understanding dawn in her eyes.

"Are you going to show her-?" she began then stopped when Remus sent her a look. Remus looked directly into her eyes and she stared back, not blinking. He nodded.

"Yes, I'm going to show her."

****

__________________________________________________________________

Nothing to add this time…hope you all enjoy the chapter and I'm already half way through the next chapter (it's a bit fluffier so it's easy to write…hehe), so hopefully I'll have it up very soon. 


	15. The Midnight Surprise

All characters depicter here belong to JK Rowling. I own nothing but the pleasure of writing this particular story.

****

The Midnight Surprise

We sat in the common room, waiting for everyone to go to bed. I was working on some homework for Defence Against the Dark Arts, and finding it very hard to concentrate, when Ginny elbowed me in the ribs. I glanced up in time to see Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas finally going up the staircase toward their dormitory. I looked around to be sure that we were the last ones up. I shot a grin at the others. My blood started to pound with excitement. Finally, I would get to find out what they were going to show me.

"I haven't snuck out of anywhere in about thirteen years, just so you know."

Hermione and Ginny both giggled. Harry pulled two Cloaks and an ancient bit of parchment out of his bag. He handed one to Hermione and touched his wand to the parchment.

"I solemnly swear I am up to no good." 

I could see black lines start to move across the parchment. I was about to try to get a better look when Harry slipped it into his pocket.

"Okay, I figure Ron and me under this one and the three of you under that one. You're smaller than we are, so it will be easier that way. Plus, I borrowed it from Sirius, so it's a bit bigger."

I gasped as Harry swung the Cloak around him and Ron. They disappeared from sight.

"Wow! What kind of a Cloak is that?"

"It's an Invisibility Cloak," came Harry's disembodied voice. "Well, come on then."

"Right," Hermione said. Ginny and I stepped closer to her and she swung the Cloak over us. "Can you see us?"

"Nope."

Hermione turned and led the way to the portrait hole.

"Wait," Ginny said. "Somebody should go out first to open it."

"Right," Hermione said again. She stepped out from under the Cloak and pushed open the portrait. We followed and glanced at the Fat Lady. She was fast asleep. Hermione slipped back under the Cloak. "Don't even have to go back in."

"How do you we get back in later?"

"Somebody will have to give her the password."

"Won't she tell Albus or somebody?"

"No, the Fat Lady is cool," Ginny said. We moved down the staircases, taking care not to step on the Cloak or on each other.

"Hermione?"

"What, Ron?"

"Stop moving!"

We stopped, Ginny on the stair above Hermione and I. She glanced around.

"What is it?" she hissed.

"Mrs Norris _and_ Peeves!"

I held my breath, looking around for the creepy cat and for the nasty poltergeist. Finally the cat came round the corner at the bottom of the stairs. Hermione held her breath as well.

"Go away, you damn cat," Ginny growled under her breath. Hermione elbowed her.

Mrs Norris came slowly up the stairs, sniffing at a speck of something every other step. She turned her lamp like eyes toward us and I found myself wondering if she would be able to see through the Cloaks. Cats were strange like that.

I breathed a sigh of relief when she continued up the stairs past us. Hermione had just put her foot on the step below us when Mrs Norris came flying back down the stairs, hissing and spitting at something behind her. We turned to find Peeves shooting what appeared to be rubber bands at her. The poltergeist cackled with glee.

"Here kitty kitty kitty," he called. Mrs Norris skidded round the corner and out of sight. Peeves tore after her.

Ginny let out a snort. Hermione and I turned to find her shoulders shaking with laughter.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "It's just so nice to see that cat get picked on once in a while!"

Hermione and I both chuckled.

"Okay, it's clear, we can go now. Remus and Sirius have been waiting for us for five minutes already."

We started back down the stairs, a little faster this time, but still taking care to keep covered. Finally we reached the flat surface and ran as fast as we could toward the Entrance Hall while still managing to stay under the Cloaks. I nearly squealed with excitement when Remus and Sirius came into view.

"About time!" Sirius muttered as we came to a halt beside them. "We started to wonder if you were going to come or not."

"We ran into Mrs Norris and Peeves on the stairs," Hermione told them, breathing heavily.

"Ah, okay," Remus said. "Harry, are we clear?"

Harry didn't respond for a moment. I could hear something rustling as we waited for an answer.

"Yeah," he said a moment later. "Madam Pomfrey is pacing in her office and Dobby is…heading this way. We'd better go!"

Remus pulled open the doors and let the five of us under the Cloaks out first. He and Sirius followed. I glanced up to find a bright sky, full of stars. I found myself looking around for the moon, just to be sure. I knew it was still just over a week until the next full moon, but it had become habit.

We waited until we were just out of sight from the castle before pulling the Invisibility Cloaks off. Remus grabbed my hand as soon as I was visible, pulling me toward him. As he did, both Hermione and Ginny let out shrieks of surprise as large amounts of snow suddenly rained down on their heads.

"I saw them pick up the snow," Remus said in response to my curious look. I laughed as Ron, Harry and Sirius each stooped to pick up more snow. Ron drew his arm back and threw the snowball toward Hermione, but she flung out her wand.

__

"Retroago!" she cried. The snowball stopped in midair and then flew back toward Ron. It hit him square in the face. I let out a shriek of laughter as he spit out a mouthful of snow.

"Serves you right!" Ginny laughed. Harry grinned at her and started to run at her. She laughed again and ran ahead, bewitching snow to fly at him as she passed. Ron took off after them, calling to Harry that he had him covered.

I couldn't help but smile as I watched them. They were usually _so_ serious and it was nice to see them let go and behave like kids once in a while. I rested my head on Remus' shoulder as we walked. We both let out a shout as a large snowball exploded against us. We spun around and found Sirius standing there with a mischievous grin on his face.

"Oh, now you are gonna get it!" Remus growled. He bent to scoop up a snowball. Sirius let out a bark of laughter and raced in the direction Harry, Ginny and Ron had gone. Remus tore after him. I hung back, watching, laughing as Remus tackled Sirius and drove him face first into a snow bank.

"They're as bad as children," Hermione said with a laugh, coming to stand beside me. She linked her arm through mine as we walked after them. 

"It's nice to see, though. They're all too serious and it's good to see them having some fun," I replied, glancing in Hermione's direction. She was looking up at the sky and I wasn't too surprised to see tears in her eyes.

"Are you alright, Hermione?"

She nodded silently, swiping at her eyes quickly. She sniffled and then turned to give me a half hearted smile.

"It's hard sometimes. It's hard to not let myself grieve, but I swore that I would bring _him_ down before I mourned my father, but…well, at times like these, I remember doing this with Dad and…it hurts."

"I know."

She nodded. I took her hands in mine.

"You can grieve while you avenge him."

She shook her head. "I want to keep my head clear and if I think of him, my head will be clouded with emotions. I don't want to be driven by emotion."

"You're already being driven by emotion. Allow yourself to grieve your father, Hermione. Revenge won't take away the pain. I know that you're angry, and you have a right to that anger, but you need to grieve."

She opened her mouth to say something.

"Hermione, what would your father have wanted?" I interrupted. She stopped and pulled her hands away from mine.

"What do you know about it?" she asked angrily. "You didn't know him."

"I know I didn't know him, but you did. What would he have wanted?"

Tears started from her eyes. I took her hands again.

"He wouldn't want me to be angry. He would want me to live every day. He would want me to be happy, but Jules, I can't be happy. They stole my father from me! They tortured him and tortured him until he finally died to get away; to make the pain stop. I _have_ to make them pay for that, don't you understand?"

"I understand your need for revenge. I understand that you want to hurt them as bad as they've hurt you and your family. And we _will_, Hermione, oh we will. But we need to concentrate and do it properly. We can't do anything rash."

Hermione nodded and we started walking again.

"I miss him, Jules. I just want my dad back. I would give anything and everything I own just to be able to say…something to him. Anything."

I didn't say anything, just wrapped an arm around Hermione's shoulder. She seemed to know where we were headed, so I just went in the direction she chose.

"Remus loves you so much," she said suddenly. She grinned up at me. "I hope Ron feels even half of the same way about me as Remus feels about you."

I flushed slightly. "I'm sure he does."

"When Remus came with me to…when I went to my house, he kept talking about how well you were doing, and how well we were doing in teaching you. He's so proud of you."

I wasn't sure what to say. I smiled at Hermione.

"You _are_ doing incredible, Jules. If I hadn't seen how well you were doing, I wouldn't believe it. Even Sirius is impressed. And Ron told me that you got your Patronus on the third or fourth try!"

"I feel like I've missed a lot though. You all know so much more than I do. I wish I could have started before so I could take the History of Magic and the Potions and all of those courses. Here I am, thirty, and I know nothing about who I am. Being a witch…it's something I've always dreamed about, and here it is, reality…and I don't even know if I'm going to be alive long enough to get to enjoy it."

"Why wouldn't you be?" Hermione stopped walking again and turned to stare at me.

"Because…" I wasn't sure how much I should tell her. "Well, because I am the Saviour."

"I know that."

"Then you know that I might have to die in order for you all to live."

Hermione closed her eyes. She shook her head.

"I didn't. Oh, Jules, I am so sorry."

"No, don't be. It's something that has to be accepted. Yes, I might not survive, but at the same time…the whole wizarding world might be given the chance to face life without Voldemort in it. My life is somewhat insignificant compared to that. And if that's what must happen, then it will." I took a deep breath and smiled. "Besides…Remus saved me so many times. I told him that I owed him my life and I meant it. If I have to die for him to live, then so be it. I love him, Hermione."

We both gasped as a hand grasped each of our shoulders. Hermione whipped her wand out and we both spun, arms raised. Sirius stood before us, dripping wet, blinking rapidly. There was a large dog behind him. Hermione dropped to give the dog a hug and the dog nearly knocked her backwards into the snow. His body wiggled with excitement and he gave several loud barks before Hermione managed to silence him. I looked back at Sirius and he gave a watery smile. Hermione stood.

"I couldn't help but overhear…" he said slowly. He wrapped an arm around each of our shoulders and steered us toward the dark forest. "Jules, you should have been a Marauder."

I stared at him and knew that finally, _finally_, he had given me all of his trust.

We met up with Harry, Ron, Ginny and Remus at the edge of the forest. They were all soaking wet, out of breath and were waiting for us.

"What took you so long?" Ron panted.

"We decided to take the grown up way here," Hermione said with a grin. "Who brought Fang out?"

"I did," Sirius answered.

"We're not going into the forest?" I demanded finally, looking into the dark and forbidding trees.

"No, not all of us, Miss Jules, but we have to get closer," Remus said breathlessly, moving over beside me. "I am too old to be playing in the snow."

"How bad did you get Sirius?" I asked with a laugh. Sirius scoffed.

"Get me? Just the once, my dear, just the once."

"Once?" Remus demanded, narrowing his eyes. "Padfoot, old friend, I got you _six_ times, if I remember correctly."  
"Ah, yes, but you're old, remember? You just said so yourself."

Remus glared at Sirius while the rest of us chuckled. He took my hand and started to lead me closer to the forest. I resisted.

"You're serious? We're really going closer? At midnight?"

"She really _does_ have a fear of midnight?" Harry asked incredulously.

"I always have," I answered. "I'm not sure what it stems from, but bad things happen at midnight."

"You met me at midnight," Remus pointed out.

"Well there's proof right there," Sirius said. Remus pointed his wand at Sirius.

"Funny man, Padfoot, funny man. But you're not _laughing_."

"Oh no you don't!" Sirius yelped, bringing his own wand up too late.

__

"Rictusempra!" Remus bellowed. Sirius gasped and sank to his knees, his hands over his stomach, trying to control the laughter that suddenly bubbled up.

I stared at him and then up at Remus, who was chuckling to himself.

"What did you do to him?"

"Put a Tickling Charm on him," Hermione answered. "He'll be alright."

He was. I saw him pick up his wand and point it at Remus.

__

"Tarantallegra!"

The spell that Albus had cast on me hit Remus and his feet started to dance on their own. He started twitching and jerking, his legs doing their own thing.

Harry and Ron were rolling on the ground, breathless with mirth. Ginny hadn't quite lost control yet, but was howling with laughter all the same. Hermione sighed and shook her head at me.

I knew that neither one of them would ever do anything to hurt the other, but still…it was a little disconcerting.

"Oh for heaven's sake," Hermione finally said. Both men looked at her, Remus still dancing and Sirius still laughing. They'd sent a couple more hexes at each other and Sirius' nose was slowly growing, while Remus had sprouted cucumbers from his ears. I took one look at him and burst out laughing.

__

"Finite Incantatem," Hermione growled. Sirius stopped laughing and his nose slowly shrank back to normal. Remus stopped dancing. "Really! We don't have time for this, you know. If we get caught, we'll be in big trouble!"

"What?" Remus hollered. We looked at him. He was still growing cucumbers from his ears. Hermione finally started to laugh.

"It serves you right, you know," she giggled.

"What?" he bellowed again. That set Ron and Harry off again. Sirius winced as he waved his wand. The cucumbers shrivelled up and fell from Remus' ears. The dog, Fang, sniffed at them. 

"Gross!" Ginny cried.

Remus and I both helped Sirius get to his feet. He rubbed his stomach gently.

"Oh, that hurts," he groaned. "I haven't laughed so hard in a long time."

"Well, are you going to go get them or not?" Ginny demanded suddenly, looking at Hermione.

"I'm not going in by myself I told you," she said. "Grawp is in there and he scares me!"

"I told you I'd go with you," Sirius said, still gingerly rubbing his stomach and ribs. "Just give me a moment."

"They won't come to me if you're there," Hermione pointed out.

"What won't?" I asked. Hermione smiled but didn't answer.

"Ah, Padfoot won't bother them," Sirius grinned. He disappeared and the great black dog was standing in his place. The dog whined a couple times and then started sniffing around the bottom of Remus' robes.

"Don't even think about it," Remus warned. Harry laughed as Padfoot seemed to grin up at Remus. "Do you want to be neutered?"

Padfoot barked and turned away, following Hermione into the forest. Fang gave a bark and loped in after.

"Will she be alright?" I asked anxiously.

"Sirius is in there with her. He knows his way around. And none of the creatures will harm them so long as Fang is with them."

"What are they looking for?"

"You'll see," Harry answered with a grin. "It's a surprise for you. You'll love it, trust me."

We waited for what seemed like forever. Remus stayed absolutely still and seemed to be listening for something. His eyes were alert and never left the trees.

"You're sure they'll be alright?" I asked again. He nodded without looking at me.

"They found one. Here they come." He grinned and glanced around. "You two might want to back away. They don't like men remember."

Harry and Ron both backed away. Remus kissed me quickly, surprising me, and then retreated as well. Ginny grinned at me and moved to stand beside me. Her eyes were fixed on the forest as well, so I looked in the same direction.

I couldn't see a thing at first and then I heard Hermione talking quietly.

"Shh, it's alright. Nobody will hurt you. It's okay. Someone wants to meet you."

I watched in the direction of her voice and gasped as she came into my line of sight, an enormous white beast walking along next to her. I felt my heart swell and I nearly burst into tears.

A unicorn. A real, live unicorn!

Ginny gripped my hand suddenly when I started forward.

"Let him come to you," she warned quietly. "If you startle him, he might hurt Hermione."

"Right," I said. "Are they skittish like horses?"

"Sort of," Ginny agreed. We watched as they came ever closer, my whole body trembling in anticipation.

"Calm down, Jules," Hermione said quietly, in the same soothing voice she'd been using on the unicorn. "He can sense your excitement. It's making him a little over excited."

I stared at her and took a few deep, calming breaths. The unicorn tossed its head as they moved closer.

"Can Muggles see unicorns?" I asked.

Hermione grinned at me while leading the unicorn forward.

"Of course. Where do you think all the stories come from?"

"Who would believe you if you told people you'd seen a unicorn?" Ginny said with a grin. 

Hermione brought the unicorn to a halt in front of me. I stood there, staring up at it, wishing that I had my camera with me.

"He's so beautiful," I whispered, bringing my hand up slowly. He watched me warily and sniffed at me. I carefully ran my fingers over the soft, velvety hair on its muzzle.

"Do you like your surprise?" Remus asked quietly. I nodded, my throat tight.

"It's better than Christmas, Remus," I answered with a soft laugh, moving my hand slowly up the unicorn's muzzle to its forehead. "I wish Nannie were here to see him."

"I'm sure she's watching," Ginny said, smiling at me. She moved over to pet the unicorn as well.

I laughed. "Knowing Nannie, she has been watching me all along. I bet it just killed her to keep a secret like this from me. She never could keep secrets."

"I hope she wasn't watching all the time," Remus commented, wincing.

I stared at him over my shoulder, my face heating up. Hermione and Ginny looked at each other.

"Eww," they cried together. I chuckled, twisting my fingers gently through the unicorn's mane. It was as soft as silk.

"Really nice, Moony," Sirius said suddenly, as he transformed back into a man. "Traumatise everyone."

"I _meant_ that I hoped she wasn't watching while Jules is in the bath and everything, you prat," Remus sniffed.

"Uh huh," Ron and Harry said together, laughing. I just smiled to myself as I stroked down the unicorn's neck and over his withers.

"How did you find him, Hermione?" Ginny asked. "I thought you'd be a lot longer than you actually were."

"He was just standing there, like he was waiting for me. Maybe he knows Fang and thought Hagrid was coming to see him."

"Maybe," Ginny agreed.

The unicorn had turned his head and was watching me as I ran my hands slowly down over his back. I smiled at it and made my way back up to his head. I ran my hands up his neck and scratched his ears. His whole coat just felt like velvet. He was softer than any horse I'd ever seen.

"He's so absolutely perfect," I cried. "I don't even want one, he's so perfect."

Hermione laughed. "How does that work?"

I grinned at her, turning slightly. "I would hate to see him be anybody's pet. He's so…free. Just look at him. He's free and he's magi-oh!"

While I'd been talking to Hermione, trying to explain, I'd taken my hands away from the unicorn. I usually find that I speak better when I can use my hands. The unicorn had stretched his neck out and given me a nudge with his head. I turned and looked at him, a little surprised. He dipped his head up and down a couple times before nudging me again.

"I think he wants you to keep touching him," Sirius said incredulously. "Have you ever seen that before, Moony?"

"No, Padfoot, in my…ah…_extensive_ work with unicorns, I have never seen anything like that."

"Well…" I said slowly. "Horses have always liked me…so maybe unicorns will too?"

Both Remus and Sirius shrugged.

"We should get back up to the castle," Hermione said a while later. "Jules, do you want to take him back into the forest with me?"

Sirius transformed back into Padfoot as I nodded. I clicked my tongue at the unicorn and he followed as Hermione and I led the way into the forest.

__

"Lumos," Hermione muttered. The tip of her wand lit.

"Thank you so much, Hermione," I said as we entered the trees. "You have no idea how much that meant to me."

She smiled and nodded, but said nothing. I continued to run my hands over the unicorn as we walked. Finally, after a time, Hermione stopped. I looked around 

"I found him just here."

The unicorn gave me one last nudge before turning and disappearing into the trees.

"I think he likes you," Hermione whispered, giggling slightly.

"Just a touch," Sirius said dryly, making both of us jump. "What? We're not searching for a unicorn any longer, so I don't have to stay in Animagi form."

"You just startled us is all," I said with a laugh. We headed back out of the forest. Sirius lit his wand as well.

As soon as we left the shelter of the forest, I walked straight up to Remus and kissed him. We broke apart when Sirius coughed. Remus cleared his throat and shook his head slightly.

"I would have settled for thank you," he admitted with a laugh.

"Thank you, Remus," I said with a grin. "And Sirius and all of you. Thank you."

Remus took my hand and we led the way back up to the castle.

__________________________________________________________________________________________

Hello everyone…I hope you enjoyed the chapter…as I said, it was a little fluffier than the others, so it was much easier to write…if I could, I would make them all like that, but I don't think there will be another fluffy chapter. Hopefully there will be fluffy moments though. There's always hope of that. 

Somebody mentioned about the last chapter that they did not feel that Hermione would react with violence to her father's death. I disagree, especially toward Malfoy. I feel that, of them all, Hermione's reaction to something like that would be the most dangerous. But that is my opinion, of course, and you do not have to share it. What a boring place the world would be if everyone had the same opinion. =)

As always, enjoy the chapter. And as always, let me know what you think!!


	16. Seeing

All characters depicter here belong to JK Rowling. I own nothing but the pleasure of writing this particular story.

****

Seeing

March faded into April. My classes started to go even better than they had been. I'd always picked certain things up easily and magic, it turned out, was one of those things that I found easy.

Professor Flitwick pulled me aside after one of my Charms lessons to tell me that he'd never seen a student _so_ far behind pick up things so quickly. He'd had me do a Cheering Charm, something he taught in third year, on Hermione and he said that I'd performed it admirably. Hermione stumbled out of the room behind me, wearing a carefree smile. It was nice to see her smiling, even if it was Charm induced.

"What's wrong with Hermione?" Ginny asked as she joined up with us on our way to the dormitory. "She looks…spaced out."

"She is," Harry answered with a grin. "Jules put a Cheering Charm on her."

"I'm okay," Hermione answered, still wearing the silly grin. "I just hope it doesn't wear off for a while."

"Ginny, Professor McGonagall told me this morning that they've decided to allow us to have a rematch for that Quidditch game we missed," Harry announced suddenly, his eyes dancing.

Ginny's eyes lit up. "Excellent! They shouldn't have made us forfeit in the first place. That was completely unfair of them. It's not as though we were trying to get out of the match!"

"I bet Ravenclaw isn't too happy about that," Ron muttered as we passed a couple Ravenclaw students.

"Yeah, well, if they'd had any decency to start with, they wouldn't have insisted on a forfeit," I said angrily, not bothering to keep my voice down. I didn't care who heard me, I thought that what the Ravenclaw captain had done was wrong. Even Professor Flitwick, the head of Ravenclaw House, had apologised to Harry and Ginny about it.

Going to Mr Granger's funeral had meant that Harry, Ron and Ginny weren't there for the match. Gryffindor had been three players short and had been, of course, unable to play. The Ravenclaw captain, Lisa Turpin, had thrown a huge fit, saying that the reason behind the players not being there was unimportant. The match had been declared a forfeit and Ravenclaw got the win and average points. Harry, Ginny and Professor McGonagall had been fighting it ever since. 

We'd just turned the corner and made our way toward the Fat Lady when Ginny let out a shriek. We thought something was wrong until the enormous black dog with pale eyes came galloping at us, his tongue lolling.

"What is he _doing?"_ Ron hissed. "Has he gone mad?"

"Gone?" Harry repeated, chuckling.

Padfoot ran straight past us without even stopping. We spun around to watch. We knew what was going on as soon as we turned around.

Mrs Norris, Mr Filch's nasty cat, had been behind us as we made our way up the stairs. During one of our Defence Against the Dark Arts lessons, Sirius had complained to us about Filch and Mrs Norris constantly following him around the castle. He was feeling a little…disenchanted with the pair of them and had apparently decided to exact a little revenge.

Mrs Norris let out a hiss and turned tail, haring down the stairs, nearly knocking students out of the way as she ran. Padfoot gave chase for a minute before letting out a bark and turning back up the stairs. He stopped at Harry's feet and grinned up at him. He transformed.

"That was mature," Hermione said with a laugh. The silly grin was still firmly fixed on her face. Sirius raised an eyebrow at her.

"What's up?" he asked, indicating Hermione.

"Cheering Charm," I answered.

"Ah." He nodded, grinning at Hermione.

"What was that about?" I asked. He turned to me.

"I told you the other day that I'm tired of Filch following me. He did it when I was at school and he's doing it now, and I am tired of it. I don't have to watch myself around him anymore."

"You could still get into trouble for being an unregistered-" Harry started.

"Who's unregistered? Arthur knows I'm an Animagi. So long as the Minister knows, it's okay," Sirius said with a grin.

We'd reached the portrait of the Fat Lady. She smiled brightly at Sirius as she waited for the password. Ginny gave it and the Fat Lady winked at Sirius before swinging open.

"What did you _do_ to her?" Ron asked, his eyebrows raised. We entered the portrait hole and Sirius followed. He laughed.

"I just apologised for slashing her and I told her it would never happen again. Nothing more." He shrugged as he settled into a chair by the fire. "I have no idea why I followed you in here."

We all laughed, heading up to drop our things in our dormitories. Hermione turned to me, still smiling. It was starting to get a little creepy.

"Is there a counter charm for that, Hermione?" I asked.

She shook her head. "Not that I have ever read about!" she answered brightly. "Professor Flitwick never taught it to us."

She followed me back down to the common room, chatting about house elves. I wasn't really sure what house elves were, but I didn't tell her that.

"…enslaved and nobody stands up for them! It's not right, Jules."

"Are you back on house elves?" Ron demanded, glaring at Hermione. She grinned up at him.

"Well, something needs to be done, Ron."

"Hermione, you haven't mentioned house elves in a while, why have you brought them up again?"

"Because she's cheerful," Ginny answered. She smiled sadly in Hermione's direction. "Enjoy it, Ron."

Ron closed his mouth and stared at Ginny. He nodded and turned to listen to Hermione. She'd continued to gabble on and on, not noticing that none of us were really paying attention.

"She sounds like she's been hit with a Gibberish Charm," Harry said with a laugh, joining the rest of us in the common room.

Sirius frowned. "A Gibberish Charm?"

Harry laughed again. "I don't know. Sounded good."

Sirius chuckled as we exited through the portrait hole. The Fat Lady winked at Sirius again and blew a kiss at him. He grinned at her and waved.

Harry grinned at Sirius mischievously. "The thing about dating a portrait is there's not a lot you can do, is there?"

Sirius spun around, his eyebrows raised.

"Pardon?"

Harry grinned again, his eyes starting to sparkle.

"Well, you couldn't leave the castle. You'd have to chase after her from picture to picture."

Ginny grinned evilly. "I can imagine what kissing would be like."

"Ew," I said with a laugh.

"What _are_ you on about?" Sirius demanded, his eyes narrowed. "I'm not dating anyone."  
"You're sure flirting with her though," Ginny laughed.

"With _who?_"

"The Fat Lady," we all chorused.

"I am not fli…I am being nice to her is all!" Sirius spluttered. Harry laughed.

"We're all nice to her and she doesn't blow kisses at us," he deadpanned. Sirius looked so thunderstruck that I burst out laughing.

"For your information, Mr Potter," Sirius sniffed. "I could _still _get any woman I wanted. I don't _need_ to date a painting."

"Wow, sure of yourself are we?" I said, raising my eyebrows at him. He grinned at me.

"Stating fact, Miss Jules."

"You couldn't get Jules," Hermione said with a laugh. Sirius turned to stare at her.

"Well…as Jules is the girlfriend of one of my oldest friends, I wouldn't even try," Sirius said slowly. I glanced around, making sure nobody heard.

"Shut up," I hissed. "Nobody is supposed to know that."

"However," Sirius continued, a little quieter, his eyes sparkling with mischief. "If I'd met Jules first, she would have won her."  
"Ex_cuse _me?" I yelped, spinning around to face him. "You did _not_ just say what I thought you said!"

He grinned at me again. I glared at him. I could feel my face heating up.

"I am not a prize to be _won_!" I snarled before turning on my heel and storming ahead of them.

I'm not sure why that had made me so angry, but I had found the comment incredibly disrespectful, not only toward me, but toward Remus as well. I knew, though, that I had over reacted a bit. That embarrassed me.

"Jules, wait, I was joking." Sirius caught my arm, trying to slow me down. I shrugged him off. I wasn't ready to look at him yet. I was still embarrassed about over reacting. "Please Jules, it was a stupid joke. I'm sorry."

I stopped walking and turned to glare at him. He held my gaze.

"That was the rudest remark I've ever heard, Sirius Black. I am not a prize to be won. I love Remus and even if you _had_ met me first, I would be with him. Do you understand that? I think it was an impolite remark to me, and it was an impolite remark toward Remus as well!"

"Keep _your_ voice down," he muttered. 

"Sorry," I said with an ironic laugh. "But I thought that comment was out of line. But you're right, I over reacted."

"I noticed. It was a joke. Just a bad joke. I was teasing is all." He looked closer at me. "Are you alright? I wouldn't have thought that you'd have a reaction like that to a stupid comment."

"I'm really tired is all. It's been a long day." I watched Hermione smiling as they went ahead of us into the Great Hall. "And that's depressing," I added, indicating Hermione.

Sirius sighed and slipped an arm over my shoulder, leading me toward the Great Hall.

"It is depressing. But Hermione is stubborn about bringing Voldemort down before allowing herself to mourn her father."

I nodded. "I know." I glanced around at her. She was still wearing the same spacey grin that she'd had for the last hour. "Maybe we should just keep putting Cheering Charms on her."

"No. It's too creepy when Hermione smiles for no reason."  
I burst out laughing. I gave Sirius a quick hug before moving over to the Gryffindor table.

*

There was fear in the air so thick that you could almost taste it. Fires burned and smoke fell thick across the horizon. I was running as fast as I could, but I wasn't getting anywhere. People were falling all around me and there was green light flying in every direction. I tried to search for somebody, _anybody,_ that I knew, but I found nobody. I could feel panic rising in my throat and swallowed, trying to choke it down. People were screaming; panicking. Everywhere around me, people were running, screaming, trying to get out of there, and were trampling each other in their terror.

There was a girl laying in the grass, crying out with pain, her long white blonde hair coming out of its neat ponytail, her face pressed against her knees. I knelt beside her and tried to lift her to her feet. She let out a yell when I moved her.

"Come on!" I cried, wrapping her arm about my shoulder. "We need to go!"

She pulled away from me and fell back to the grass, her face buried in her hands. I grabbed her again, trying to lift her off the ground. I ran my hands down her legs, trying to feel for breaks. I heard something start to crash in the background and looked up in time to see the castle imploding.

"You're fine! Get up!" I yelled, panic stricken. "We have to find everyone!"

She turned to look at me, her hair seeming to shrink back into her head. She started to laugh maniacally. I gave a gasp and let her fall back to the ground once more.

The face that stared back at me was bleached bone white with a flat nose and snake-like nostrils. Even more horrifying than that were the fiery scarlet eyes that glared right at me. I backed up a few steps, my hands out in front of me.

"Who are you?" I choked out, horror rising in my throat.

The person continued to laugh, coming to its feet slowly. I stared as it drew itself to its full height and towered over me.

"You're next, Mudblood. You're next."

I gasped, sitting up in my bed, my heart racing. I was shivering with fright and my pyjamas were drenched in cold sweat. I ripped back the hangings on my bed, staring wildly around, making sure the school wasn't really on fire.

I breathed a sigh of relief to find the air smoke free. I slipped out of bed and made my way over to the water pitcher by the window. I glanced out the window, making perfectly certain, before pouring myself a glass.

Someone sniffled behind me and I spun quickly. There was nobody there. I set my glass back beside the pitcher and held my breath, trying to listen.

Another sniffle. I frowned, making my way back to my bed. I heard one more sniffle and realised it was coming from Hermione's bed.

"Hermione?" I whispered, pulling the hangings back a little. She became unnaturally still and her breathing stopped. "Hermione, it's Jules. Are you okay?"

She let out a sigh and rolled over to face me. Her face was wet with tears.

"Did I wake you?" she asked softly. I shook my head, sitting down on her bed and pulling the hangings shut once more.

"I had a nightmare. I got up for a drink and I heard you."

She nodded, wiping her cheeks quickly.

"What's wrong, Hermione?"

She tried to smile and failed. She shook her head.

"Nothing, really. After effect of the Cheering Charm."

I said nothing, merely stared at her.

"Okay, so it's not. I had a nightmare also. About the night my parents were attacked."

I nodded. "I thought as much. Did you go visit your mother today?"

"Yes. She's still…out of it. She doesn't remember the attack, thankfully." Hermione sighed and rolled to her side, curling into a ball. "I keep dreaming about it."

"Are…are there counsellors or anyone here that you could speak to?"

"Madam Pomfrey has offered to talk if I feel the need."

"Have you?"

She shook her head. "Not yet." I could see tears well in her eyes again. "It's hard to see it in my dreams. I'm not sure I can talk about it. I'm not brave like Harry." She turned her back to me then to hide the tears that were starting down her cheeks once more. I wasn't sure what she meant about being brave like Harry but I didn't say anything. I lay down behind her and wrapped my arms around her. She didn't say anything but I felt her tremble as she started to weep.

I woke to the sounds of whispers in the dormitory. I blinked to clear my eyes, wondering why on earth I had a mass of hair in my face. I remembered trying to comfort Hermione and realised I must have fallen asleep. I eased away from her and peaked out of the crack in the hangings. I didn't really care what the other two thought, but I didn't think that Hermione needed rumours going around on top of what she was going through.

I couldn't see either of them so I slipped out of the bed and into my own. I lay there listening to the other two get up and leave. I finally slid out of my bed and made for the shower.

When I came back, Hermione was up and had dressed. She looked a little uncomfortable.

"What's wrong?" I asked, frowning. I seemed to be asking her that a lot lately.

"Nothing," she answered, smiling. "Thank you for laying with me last night. My mum used to do that when I was younger."  
"My grandmother did too," I replied, smiling back. I picked up my bag and moved toward the stairs. Hermione followed.

"I wonder if the others have gotten up yet," she wondered aloud, setting her bag on one of the tables in the common room.

"No, here comes Ron," I said, looking up at the stairway to the boys' dormitory. Ron came out of it, his hair sticking everywhere. "He hasn't bothered to comb his hair."

Hermione grinned at me then turned her attention to Ron. "Not awake yet?"

"What?" he asked, staring at her. Close to, we could both see that he had dark circles under his eyes and looked as though he hadn't slept well.

"You didn't comb your hair. Do you not have Defence Against the Dark Arts with us this morning?"

"Yeah, I'm going back up. Harry is asleep still. We both had nightmares last night."

Hermione frowned and looked at me. "We both did also."

"Me too," a voice said behind us. We turned to find a very pale Ginny. Her eyes also had dark circles under them.

"Get Harry up," Hermione whispered, her face paling even more. "We need to go down to the Great Hall."  
Ron didn't argue. He hurried up the staircase as fast as his legs would carry him. He was back a moment later, a dressed but half asleep Harry at his side. 

"What's going on?" he demanded, jamming his fists in his eyes, trying to wake himself up.

"Something's not right," Hermione answered, flinging her bag over her back. "We need to get to the Great Hall. Come _on_."

None of us disagreed. We followed Hermione through the portrait hole, down to the Great Hall. I felt terror rise again as I pictured those gleaming scarlet eyes. Students were chattering noisily, apparently without any concern. I felt some of my panic start to fade.

As soon as we entered, I noticed all the teachers standing together at the head table, Remus, Sirius and Professor Snape right in the middle. They seemed to be having a heated discussion and I thought it looked as though one of the professors was crying.

"You're right, Hermione," I muttered, nodding toward the head table. She nodded at me.

"I wonder what's going on," she whispered, her face pale. "Professor Sprout is crying. Look."  
Harry, Ron and Ginny looked in that direction. Harry took Ginny's hand quickly and we made our way to the Gryffindor table.

I couldn't get the gleaming red eyes out of my mind. I squeezed my eyes shut and shook my head, trying to clear it.

Harry drew a sharp breath and let out a yelp. We all turned to him as his hand came up and clutched at the thin scar on his forehead.

"Something…wrong…" he mumbled, his eyes shut tight. The other three had gone white. "He's…angry."

"But he can't get into your mind anymore!" Ginny wailed, her hand on Harry's arm.

"He's…not," Harry panted, both hands on his scar now. I stared at him, not sure what was going on.

"Harry, stop it!" Hermione cried, trying to pull his hands away from his face. I stood, meaning to go get somebody to help when Harry pulled his hands away on his own.

"Don't ever do that again!" Ron yelled angrily.

"Sorry," Harry muttered, buttering some toast to avoid looking at us.

"What happened?" I asked.

"He just tried to get into V-Voldemort's mind," Hermione explained, still angry. "Why?"  
"Because I wanted to know what was going on."

"That's a stupid reason," came Sirius' voice from above us. We looked up to find him angrier than I ever would have thought possible. He grabbed Harry's arm and yanked him out of his chair. He pulled Harry out into the Entrance Hall.

"That didn't look good," Ron observed.

I looked up toward the head table. Remus was looking out into the Entrance Hall and nodding at something one of the professors had said. He looked tired and dismayed.

"Something very bad has happened," I said quietly. Harry and Sirius came back into the Great Hall. Harry looked thoroughly put out and Sirius nearly had steam billowing from his ears.

The Hall went quiet as Dumbledore nodded and stepped forward. We all watched him clear his throat and look out at the students.

"I regret to announce that there has been an attack," he said softly. We caught every word.

Hermione's eyes closed and her hands clenched around her goblet. Ginny started to cry softly, while Ron just stared at Albus. Harry looked straight at me.

Albus cleared his throat again before speaking. "The Minister received word this morning that Beauxbatons Academy for Magic in France was attacked early this morning by Lord Voldemort and many of his supporters."

I sat up straighter, the gleaming scarlet eyes even more vivid in my mind as Albus continued. Again I heard the voice telling me "You're next Mudblood. You're next."

My fear must have been evident on my face because Harry reached over and took my hand suddenly. I stared at him, listening as Albus explained that the survivors would be making their way to Hogwarts later that day and that the school had been completely destroyed.

"How many survived?" Hermione asked quietly, her eyes still closed. Albus turned to her.

"We're not sure at this time, Miss Granger."

"Why Beauxbatons?" a girl sitting at the Hufflepuff table asked. She had long dark hair pulled back into a braid.

"I am not sure, Miss Bones. I have only assumptions, each as unlikely as the next."

"Are we next?"

I didn't know who asked it, but Albus looked at somebody sitting at the Ravenclaw table.

"I won't lie to you. We may well be. I've owled each of your parents and explained to them what has happened. If they wish for you to leave school, then they just have to let me know. I maintain that this _is_ the safest place for you to be at this time."

Somebody else started to ask something but was interrupted by the doors being thrown open. I stared as a woman as tall as a house came through the doors, her eyes bruised, her nose bloody. She was barefoot and her robes were torn.

"Madame Maxime," Hermione whispered. "She survived!"

The woman made her way up to the head table and leaned heavily against the table. She spoke with Albus quietly for a moment before nodding. Albus waved his wand and a chair materialised out of thin air. The woman collapsed into it, her face buried in her hands.

Albus cleared his throat again.

"Survivors from Beauxbatons are arriving now. Your morning classes have been postponed until further notice, as we need the professors to assist with injuries. I ask you to finish your breakfast and return to your house common rooms. You will be alerted when your classes resume."

Nobody spoke when he sat down and leaned toward the woman in the chair. We finished eating and made our way back to the common room.

"Who was that?" I asked quietly.

"Madame Maxime," Harry answered. "She was…is…the Headmistress at Beauxbatons."

Ron stopped just as we were giving the Fat Lady the password. He had gone stark white and his eyes were the size of dinner plates.

"What?" Ginny asked.

"Gabrielle."

"What?" Hermione demanded.

"Gabrielle!" Ron repeated. Harry grabbed his arm.

"We have to tell Bill."

"Who is Gabrielle?" Ginny asked.

"Fleur's sister!" Ron and Harry yelled as they hurried back down the stairs.

Hermione and Ginny stared at each other for half a beat before following Ron and Harry. I followed them.

"Who is Fleur?" I demanded.

"Bill's girlfriend!" Ginny called over her shoulder. The three of us entered the Great Hall after Ron and Harry. I gaped at the scene.

It looked like a bomb had gone off. I stared around, awestruck, at the devastation around me.

__________________________________________________________________________________________

Hello everyone…sorry about the length of time to update…it was hard to write this chapter, for some reason. Again, not overly happy with the chapter, but I hope you enjoy it. I might change things (I've already changed quite a few things from what was originally written), and will let you all know if I do.


	17. to everyone

Due to a recent loss of interest in this story on my part, I am afraid to tell you that I will no longer be posting new chapters or updating old ones. I apologise for any disappointment this might cause, but I feel it is necessary not to leave you wishing for more. Soon I will be deleting the chapters I do have. Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it.


	18. Help Arrives

All characters depicter here belong to JK Rowling. I own nothing but the pleasure of writing this particular story.

****

Help Arrives

Hermione, Ginny and I could do nothing but stare at the scene before us. We all understood then why they'd sent us to our common rooms.

The air in the Great Hall was thick with panic and pain. Several people had been burned. There was a student who appeared to be missing an arm. There was blood everywhere and students were crying as professors went around, helping where they could, and comforting others. Healing spells gave the air an orange tinge and left a strange odour behind. It was chaos. 

Harry and Ron had made it about halfway across the room before stopping to try to help a little girl. She was crying, tears streaked her dirty face. She appeared to be calling out for somebody, over and over. Harry sat her down in a chair and tried to calm her. 

I looked around again and realised that there were people who didn't appear to be injured at all. Most of them were walking around in a daze, or were crying hysterically.

"Come on," I said to Ginny and Hermione.

"Where are we going?" Ginny asked.

"To see if we can help."

We started toward Harry and Ron. I could see Sirius coming toward us from the other way.

"You lot have to leave," he said urgently.

"Sirius, we-" Harry started.

"No, you have to go. You don't need to see this."  
"Sirius, we can help. We're at war," Hermione said angrily. "We're going to see it sooner or later."

Sirius stared at her but didn't reply.

"What are you doing in here?" he asked instead.

"Fleur's sister goes to Beauxbatons," Ron answered, his face pale. "She would have started this year."

"Fleur, Bill's girlfriend?"

Ginny and Ron both nodded. Sirius paled slightly and looked around.

"Does she look like Fleur?"

"Yes," Harry answered. "Same hair, same eyes. You'll know who she is instantly."  
Sirius shook his head. "They all look the same. Filthy. It's hard to tell who is injured and who is covered in mud. I'll keep an eye out for her." He turned to the rest of us. "I want-"

He was cut off when a boy who was standing not too far away started to retch. Sirius hurried over to him, his face pale and sad.

"Get to your common room!" he called over his shoulder. "I don't want you in here."

"We have to find Professor McGonagall," Harry said. "See if we can use her fire."  
Her fire?

"I think we should see if we can help," I repeated.

"What can we do?" Ron demanded, turning to me. "We can't heal them."

"They don't all need healing, Ron!" Hermione hissed. "Not everyone is hurt. Some people just need to be comforted."  
"Again, what do you think we can do?"  
"We can talk to them," Ginny said quietly. "Just try to calm them down."  
"I've an idea," Harry said suddenly. "Come on."  
He led the way back toward the door, careful to not bump anybody. I looked around again as we left the Great Hall. The absolute despair in the room made me want to weep.

We followed Harry through a set of doors right outside the kitchen, down a staircase and toward a giant picture of a fruit bowl. I looked around as we moved toward it. It appeared to be a dead end, but I had learned quickly in my time at Hogwarts that things were not always as they seemed.

I was right. Harry reached up and tickled the pear in the painting. It started to giggle and quickly turned into a giant silver door handle. Harry grabbed it and pulled.

I gasped as we entered an enormous room that was obviously the Hogwarts kitchens. There were small creatures scurrying everywhere. I gasped again as one launched itself at Harry, squealing in a very high, squeaky voice. 

"Harry Potter!"

Harry grunted when the creature struck him round the middle, hugging him tight. He grinned down at it. The creature had large, protruding green eyes and flat, bat-like ears. It wore a maroon sweater over what looked like bicycle pants and mismatched socks. It also had a tea cosy on his head. I couldn't help but smile at its odd clothes.

"Hi Dobby." He turned to me. "Dobby, this is my cousin, Julianne. Jules, this is Dobby. He's a house elf."  
I stared at the house elf. So _this_ was what Hermione was trying to free.

The house elf bowed low to me and moved forward to take my hand.

"Harry Potter's cousin! Dobby is very pleased to meet you, miss!"

I laughed. "I'm happy to meet you too, Dobby."

"Dobby is wondering what he may do for Harry Potter and his friends?"

Harry nodded. "Dobby, one of the other wizarding schools was attacked by Lord Voldemort, and-"  
"Say not the name sir!" Dobby interrupted, his hands tugging at his ears.

Harry waved his hand impatiently. "Sorry. Anyway, there are students from that school here; some are injured but many aren't. We thought we'd see if you would send up some food and some drinks."  
I stared at Harry, surprised. It was an excellent idea. What did most people do when someone was upset? Offered a drink or something to eat.

"Of course, sir! Dobby will do what he can!"

Some of the other house elves had gathered round as Harry had spoken and were nodding enthusiastically. They'd already jumped into action and were pulling out hams and turkeys and pitchers full of water and juice and tea…any sort of drink you'd want.

"May Dobby help in some other way?"

"Not unless you can help with injuries," Ron answered.

"Dobby and Winky and maybe some others could help, sir."

"Thank you, Dobby. Come up with us and we'll find out if you can help."

Dobby's eyes lit up and he followed us out of the kitchen. We hurried back up to the Great Hall. Dobby pulled off his tea cosy as we entered. He stared around.

"Oh, sirs, misses. Dobby had no idea…no idea what the damage would be."

His great big green eyes welled up with tears as he followed us toward Professor McGonagall. Sirius caught sight of us and started our way again.

"I told you to go to the Gryffindor common room," he said, annoyed.

"And we told you we can help!" Hermione replied.

"Enough," Professor McGonagall said. She looked worn out. "What can I do for you?"

"We came to see if we could help," Harry answered. He indicated Dobby. "We've just been to the kitchen and the house elves are going to send up some food and drinks. Dobby wishes to offer his service up here. He also said that other house elves would be willing to help."

McGonagall and Sirius both stared at Harry, surprise etched on their features. Sirius cleared his throat.

"I never thought to ask the house elves for help, or to offer food and drink," he said slowly. "That's a good idea. People might calm down a little."

"Can you heal?" McGonagall asked Dobby. He nodded slowly.

"Minor injuries, Professor. Nothing too big, Dobby is afraid. Scrapes, small burns. Dobby can also help to calm the students."

Professor McGonagall smiled and nodded. She appeared to be trying to keep tears at bay.

"Dobby, please round up all the house elves who are willing to help. This isn't an order, but a request. They do not have to help if they don't wish to."

Dobby smiled slowly. "They would be happy to, Professor." He nodded at Professor McGonagall and vanished with a crack like a whip.

"Now what can we do?" Ron asked.

Sirius and McGonagall both shook their heads.

"Nothing. I want you to go back to your dormitories," McGonagall answered.

Harry stared at them indignantly.

"We're not children, we can help. Hermione and I are Head Girl and Head Boy. Ginny and Ron are more than capable magically and Jules could help somehow as well."  
I nodded. "I used to volunteer as a candy striper. I can help to calm some people down at least."

McGonagall shook her head again.

"I appreciate the offers and I know that, as Head Boy and Head Girl, it is your duty to assist the Professors when needed, but what we need is for you to return to your dormitories. We don't want to put any of our own students at risk."

Harry stared at her, understanding dawning on his face.

"You think some of them might be spies?"

"I did not say that, Mr Potter."

Harry's jaw clenched but he didn't push the subject.

"May we use your fire then, Professor McGonagall?" Hermione asked. "Ron's brother is dating Fleur Delacour and her younger sister was…is…a student at Beauxbatons."

Professor McGonagall's jaw dropped. She nodded.

"Of course you may! I haven't seen her sister yet, but I'll watch for her. I only hope…" Professor McGonagall didn't finish her sentence. She didn't need to.

We hurried back out of the Great Hall toward the Transfiguration class room.

"What do you mean use her fire?" I asked.

"You'll see," Harry answered, pulling the door open. "_Colloportus."_

The door sealed with a squelching noise and the rest of them made their way to the fireplace in Professor McGonagall's office. I followed curiously.

"Do you want to do it, Ron?"

Ron nodded and moved forward, taking a pinch of glittering powder from the pot on the mantle of the fireplace. He got down on his knees and stuck his head in the empty fireplace. He dropped the powder.

"Gringotts Wizard Bank!" he yelled. I let out a shout as green flames erupted in the fireplace and started to lick at Ron's ears.

"What on earth?" I exclaimed.

"Floo Powder," Harry explained. "It's a quick way to travel and a way to communicate. Ron's head will appear in a fire at Gringotts Wizard Bank, where both Bill and Fleur work and he'll be able to tell them. Hopefully."

It was odd to look at the fireplace and see someone with their head stuck in it. His head still appeared to be attached to his shoulders, so it was a little strange to imagine that it was in a fireplace miles and miles away.

"This is a bit surreal," I admitted. Harry grinned.

"You get used to it."

Ron lurched suddenly. Ginny yelped and grabbed him by the arm, Hermione on the other side. He pulled back, his head coming out of the fire.

"What happened?"

"Bill grabbed me, trying to make me explain. I just told Fleur that Beauxbatons had been destroyed and that we hadn't seen her sister. I told her she could come here if she wanted. Then he grabbed me and demanded to know what happened and if Gabrielle had died."

We made our way out of the room and walked to the Entrance Hall.

"They'll be here any minute," Ron said. "We might as well wait for them."

Sure enough, by the time we reached the Entrance Hall, Bill and a woman with waist length white blonde hair had burst through the front doors, looking frantic. I couldn't help but stare at her; she was the most beautiful person I'd ever seen, even with tears running down her face and her eyes red and puffy.

"Ron! 'Arry!" she cried, rushing toward us. She started to cry again. "Gabrielle! Is she…is she…" She didn't finish her sentence.

"We don't know," Hermione answered, her voice breaking. She moved forward and took Fleur's hands. "We looked for her, but everyone is covered in mud, it's impossible to tell who is who."

I was still staring at Fleur. Her hair seemed familiar somehow.

"Are zey in zere?" Fleur asked hysterically. She barely waited for Harry's nod before turning and bolting into the Great Hall. We could hear her calling for her sister.

"Look, Ron, I'm sorry I grabbed you before. I panicked. Thank you for calling us, I really do appreciate it," Bill said awkwardly.

"It was nothing," Ron answered, nodding at his brother. "I knew Fleur would want to know, and I figured it would be best if you came with her. Keep her calm enough to Apparate, so she didn't end up Splinching herself."

Bill nodded. "I am going to go see if I can help with injuries. Where are you supposed to be?"

Ron grinned. "We're supposed to be in our dormitory, Bighead Boy."

Bill smiled sadly. "You should go Floo Mum and Dad. Tell them what's happened here. Do you think we need some help?"

Harry nodded. "It's bad, Bill."

"Floo the twins as well then. Maybe try Charlie. I'm sure you won't get him, but it never hurts to try. But the twins could, and I'm sure they _will, _be able to help. They could leave Lee or Angelina in charge of the store."

Bill turned and entered the Great Hall. We watched him stop and stare around, shock etched in his features. He squared his shoulders and disappeared into the room. Harry turned to the rest of us.

"Come on, you heard what he said. We should go Floo Arthur at least, though I'm sure Dumbledore already has."

We made our way back to Professor McGonagall's office. I leaned against her desk while both Ron and Harry stuck their heads in the fireplace.

"Is he going to come after Hogwarts?" I asked quietly. Hermione sighed.

"He will at some point. Whether it will be while we are still here remains to be seen."  
"He has to know that it's Harry's last year," Ginny said. "Why would he come after Harry now? In a few months, Harry will be out of school and out from under Dumbledore's protection."  
Hermione shook her head. "No he won't. Harry will never be out from underneath Dumbledore's protection. Think about it. Once this year is over, Harry will be moving into…Sirius' house. Who is the Secret Keeper? Dumbledore."  
"What about the family protection…thing?" Ginny asked.

"Family protection?" I repeated.

Hermione nodded. "There's a spell or…something that keeps him safe while he is in the care of his aunt. She is his last blood relative. I'm not sure how it works, really."

"She's not."

"What?"

"She's not his last blood relative. I am a blood relative of Harry's as well."

Both Ginny and Hermione stared at me.

"You're right," Hermione said slowly. "I wonder what that will do to the protection Harry has."

"It shouldn't do a thing," Ginny answered. "She was a blood relative before we knew of her, and it didn't make a bit of difference."

"I wonder if I could do the same thing Harry's aunt does with that charm…does she just have to be in the same house? Because I could do that. I will be living with Remus, I assume…I hope, anyway…and he said that Harry would be moving in with him once he leaves school."

"We'll have to bring it up to Dumbledore," Ginny said. "That would be good, to have him still protected."

Hermione nodded fervently, turning to look in Harry's direction.

"I feel bad for him," she whispered to Ginny and I. "It's amazing that he's sane, really, when you consider everything he's been through."

Ginny and I agreed with Hermione. Ron pulled his head out of the fireplace and stood, dusting himself off.

"Dad is on his way but he's going to Floo Mum and everyone else first. He said he's going to bring several people from the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and some Aurors with him. He wants to increase the security around Hogwarts."

Ginny nodded. I felt her shiver slightly.

"Does he think we need it?" Hermione asked quietly.

Ron nodded. "He said there is not a doubt in his mind that Hogwarts is on his list and we very well might be next. He said that all the recent attacks until this one appear to be indirectly connected to Harry."

He glanced nervously at Hermione as he said this, but she nodded in agreement.

"I don't blame Harry, Ron. It isn't his fault and it doesn't change the way I feel toward him. He's one of my best friends and I stand by that. How come he's still talking to your dad?"  
"Dad wanted to speak to him. Harry was trying to figure out why Lord V…V…You-Know-Who went after Beauxbatons."

"It's sort of obvious," Hermione pointed out. "They're our closest ally."

Ron nodded. "That's what I said."

"But Harry blames himself."

We turned to look at Ginny, but her eyes were fixed on Harry. She hadn't been asking a question.

"Yes, he does." Ron sighed. "He feels responsible. You know that."

Ginny nodded, her eyes still on Harry. He was climbing out of the fireplace now but his back was still to us. Finally he sighed and turned. He looked as though he had the weight of the entire world resting on his shoulders. It occurred to me later, after I'd gone to bed, that he did have the weight of the entire world resting on his shoulders. Our safety and survival ultimately rested on his young shoulders. I could not help but weep for Harry that night.

"Your mum and dad are coming. He said for us to go to our dormitory. Since we've alerted everyone we needed to, I suppose we might as well do as we're told."

"Why didn't Beauxbatons fight back?" I asked quietly. "It has to be as big as Hogwarts. Why didn't they fight back? How did he even find it? Remus told me that Hogwarts is hidden, so wouldn't that school be as well?"

"I'm sure Voldemort has Death Eaters that went to that school," Hermione answered slowly. "If they were taken by surprise…The students are just children, really. What chance to they have against full grown wizards that are intent on destroying them? What chance would we have?"

"We have Dumbledore," Harry retorted, shooting a glare in Hermione's direction.

Nobody said anything else as we headed toward the Gryffindor common room. Harry nodded to each of us and disappeared up the stairs to his dormitory. I sighed as I plopped in an armchair, trying to ignore the chattering students. I didn't feel like listening to the rumours that were sure to be floating around. Ron and Ginny sat in chairs around me, while Hermione sat on the floor and started digging through her bag.

"Damn," she muttered. Ron, who had been sitting back with his eyes closed, sat up and arched an eyebrow at Hermione.

"I know that wasn't you that just uttered that curse word."

Hermione paused long enough to shoot a glare at Ron and then went back to rummaging through her bag.

"What are you looking for?" Ginny asked.

"My quill," Hermione growled. "It's not in here. I had four in here, and they're all gone."

I raised my eyebrows. "Somebody stealing them?"

"Why would somebody steal a quill?"

I shrugged. "I don't know, it was just a suggestion."

Hermione let out another growl and flipped her bag over, spilling the contents on the floor. Rolls of parchment scattered in every direction, and several books fell with a dull thud.

"Why do you need a quill anyway?"

"So we can do some brainstorming."

"Well, here," Ginny said, holding out her quill. "Use mine."

Hermione sighed and started packing her things back into her bag. She tucked it under a chair and took Ginny's quill, rolling out her parchment as she did so.

"It's just odd that four quills have gone missing from my bag that is always with me is all. I'm glad I didn't have my eagle feather quill in there."

She dipped the quill in the ink and wrote something on the parchment. She looked up at the three of us.

"Harry mentioned the crystals. I have my doubts that they'll work, and when the time comes we have to be absolutely positive that the spell will work because we can not challenge the most powerful Dark wizard ever with a spell that we're not sure of. We have to succeed because if we don't, we're all dead."

"I don't think the crystals are a bad idea," Ginny said quietly. "I think if we could find _something_ to magnify, they could help us. Just magnifying the Stunning Spell might help. If we could Stun Lord Voldemort…"

"And then what? Harry uses the Killing Curse while he's down? Would that even work?" Ron demanded, his head propped up on his hand. "I agree with Harry; it's got to be that we're looking for something so big when really we should be looking for something small. It's going to be a simple curse or hex that brings him down, you mark my words."

Hermione sighed as she wrote a few words on the parchment.

"I don't completely disagree with you, Ron, but I think it's going to be something a little bigger than a simple hex. That would just be…too easy."

"I say we head to the library," I suggested. Ron groaned at me. "Well, it's really all we have. There _has_ to be something in there that will help us. There's all those books in the Restricted Section, maybe if we looked at _all_ of them…Harry, Remus and I looked at a few of them, but there are so many more."

"Those books are dangerous," Ron started to protest.

"Ron, do you really think they'd keep a book that could burn your eyes out in a _school_?" Ginny snapped. "Use your head."

"Anyway," Ron continued, ignoring Ginny, "we need a note from a professor. Who would we get one from?"

Hermione and I looked at each other and then back to Ron.

"Are you being thick on purpose?" Ginny demanded. "We have Remus and Sirius on our side, not to mention Professors McGonagall and Dumbledore are as anxious as we are to end this. There is no doubt that we could get a note."

"Do you think we'd be allowed to go to the library?" Ron asked. "Professor McGonagall was quite insistent that we come back here."  
Hermione nodded, tapping the quill against the tip of her nose thoughtfully. "I'm not entirely sure that she trusts everyone in the Great Hall. I can't really say I blame her though. Who knows if it's a student or if it's somebody hiding in Polyjuice Potion."

She frowned, standing suddenly, dropping the quill on the parchment. She spun on her heel and ran up the stairs to the boys' dormitory. Ron, Ginny and I stared at each other and then raced after her. We entered just as Hermione said something about a map.

"Hermione, what do you think I'm doing?" Harry asked exasperatedly, holding up the same ancient bit of parchment I'd seen the night we'd gone to the Forbidden Forest. He set the parchment on his bed so we could see it too. "On top of looking for Gabrielle, I'm also looking for Voldemort or Death Eaters."

Hermione sat on the bed and peered down at the parchment, her eyes scanning all over it.

"Did you find Gabrielle?" Ginny asked.

Harry shook his head.

"No, but it's hard to keep it straight on here. I thought it would be easier to find her here than actually being in the Great Hall, but because this is a smaller area it's worse. There's so many names jumbled into the one area that they keep running into one big mess. Add in that everybody is moving, so I've got absolute _every_ student in the school showing on here."

I moved forward to see the parchment. I was shocked to find a complete map of Hogwarts. I leaned in and lifted it off the bed to get a better look.

"Where did you get this?" I asked, staring at the parchment. It was hard to make anything out because of all the black dots moving all over it, but there was no doubt that it was a map of Hogwarts. I stared at the words across the top. "Moony and Padfoot and Prongs? As in Remus and Sirius and James?"

Harry grinned as he took the map back from me. "As in Remus and Sirius and my dad, yes. I got the map from Fred and George in our third year and then found out that the three of them, plus another wizard, wrote this map when they were in school." Harry's eyes flashed when he mentioned the other wizard. He obviously felt the same way about him that Remus and Sirius did.

Hermione took the map from Harry again. Finally she sighed, setting it down. She stood, indicating for us to do the same. She pointed her wand at it.

__

"Engorgio!"

"Oh, I didn't think of that," Harry admitted as the map started to expand. Hermione kept her wand on it until it was hanging over the sides of Harry's bed.

"I think that will do," she muttered, sticking her wand back into her pocket and carefully lifting the parchment. She grabbed the roll of Spellotape that Harry held out and tacked the map on the wall between Harry and Ron's bed.

"Brilliant," Ginny enthused, grinning at Hermione. Hermione smiled back, standing back to get a better look at the map. I could not see any sign of a 'Gabrielle Delacour' anywhere. The name Delacour kept catching my eye, but each time it was Fleur.

"I don't see Gabrielle," Hermione whispered. "But I don't see any Death Eaters…at least that we know of, anyway…or Voldemort either."

Harry turned to her, a slight smirk on his face.

"You're not actually _looking_ for the name Voldemort, are you?"

Hermione raised her eyebrows at him.

"Well, yes, I was."

Harry shook his head. "Look for Tom Riddle. That's his real name, and that's what will come up on here. Tom Riddle or Tom Marvolo Riddle."

Our eyes immediately turned back to the map, carefully scanning it. Even with it being enlarged, there were still too many people on there to find anything for sure. 

We stood there staring at it for several minutes before Harry finally nodded.

"He's not here. We're safe for now."

He reached up to take the map off the wall, carefully rolling it. We followed him as he passed us.

"Where are we going?" Ron asked.

"To give this to Dumbledore. He needs it more than we do."

__________________________________________________________________________________________

Sorry everyone =). I just couldn't resist April Fools. No, I'm not really pulling my story. Here is the next chapter. Happy April Fools!


	19. Dead Ends

All characters depicted here belong to JK Rowling. I own nothing but the pleasure of writing this particular story.

****

Dead Ends

I can't even begin to tell you the look that came over Albus Dumbledore's face when Harry presented him with the Marauder's Map. He unrolled it right there in the middle of the Great Hall and stared at it incredulously. His eyes widened as they sped over the surface of the parchment, his mouth opening slightly in surprise. He dropped his hands and stared at Harry.

"This is the map that Barty Crouch, Jr. meant."

Harry nodded, his hands in his pockets. He looked like he was sure he was going to be in trouble.

"Where did you get this?"

"We made it."

The five of us turned to Remus and Sirius, who had sneaked up behind us while we had been talking to Dumbledore.

"We made it when we were students at Hogwarts," Remus repeated. "You see the names at the top? Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs. That was us."

"You gave this to Harry?" Dumbledore asked sternly.

"Indirectly, yes," Sirius replied.

"No, Sirius, I gave it to him directly."

"But I thought he got it from Fr-" Ginny started, causing Ron to elbow her in the ribs. "Ouch!"

"Be quiet," Ron hissed under his breath.

"At the end of Harry's third year, I gave this map to him. I had confiscated it earlier on and then gave it back." Remus looked sheepish. "Sorry, Albus. It's what James would have wanted me to do."

"Indeed," Albus said dryly, his eyes twinkling. "Why was it not brought to me before now?"

Harry shrugged. "I only realised now that it could be useful to you."

Dumbledore regarded Harry for a moment then nodded.

"It could be very useful. Thank you."

Harry opened his mouth to reply when a loud gasp at the open doors caused us to turn. Arthur had arrived, Molly, Fred and George on his heels. Behind them were many other people, who I assumed were the Aurors Harry had mentioned. Molly had her hands clapped over her mouth. Bill, carrying a small student, made his way over to his parents. Arthur listened to him for a moment before nodding. He made his way to us, the Aurors behind him. One of them, a large and bald black man with a silver hoop earring, nodded to us, his eyes resting briefly on me. He returned his attention to Dumbledore and Arthur.

"That's Kingsley Shacklebolt," Hermione whispered to me. "He's an Auror and…a good friend of Arthur's."

I nodded, trying unsuccessfully to hear what Arthur was saying to Dumbledore. I sighed when Sirius turned to the five of us, his eyes blazing. I really was getting tired of being treated like I was a teenager again.

"Why are the five of you not in your dormitory?" he demanded, his voice harsh. Even Remus looked at him in surprise.

"Padfoot, they are trying to help."

"Moony, they are compromising their safety. I know each of them is smart enough to realise that we might have people who aren't victims in here and I don't want any of them to be injured." He turned his gaze to me and lowered his voice so only we could hear. "I know, Jules. You are thirty years old. However, your knowledge of magic is minimal. That is why you are being treated like you are a teenager. You may be older than these four but they do know more about magic than you. Now, I do not want to see any of you until Albus tells you that it is absolutely safe. Do I make myself clear?"

The five of us nodded silently. Remus indicated we should follow him, so we turned and followed him out into the Entrance Hall. As we walked, I noticed Albus give his wand a wave, enlarging the map even more before attaching it to the wall of the Great Hall.

"I know the five of you wish to help," Remus was saying quietly. "So, if you would like, you may go to the library for your research. I will write you a note to give to Madam Pince so you may get the books that you desire from the Restricted Section."

I saw Hermione send a sidelong glance in Remus' direction.

"We were talking about that earlier, actually," she said softly. "We thought we should look through all the books in the Restricted Section."

"I know. I'll write a note that says I've assigned the five of you to read all the books in the Restricted Section and I will come up there to speak to Madam Pince. That should make her happy and then you basically have free reign. I also want to tell her to seal the doors to the library. There should be no other students roaming the castle, and the professors are all busy. That way I will be fairly certain that you are all safe. Madam Pince is also a capable witch so, should the need arise, you will have somebody who can help defend you."

I saw Ginny swallow hard before turning to Remus.

"Is that necessary?"

Remus stopped walking, turning to look directly at Ginny.

"I certainly hope not, Ginny."

Our search of the library proved to be as fruitless as it had been before. When Remus came back for us, each of us had checked several books out, and we piled even more into Remus' arms. We didn't speak much as we walked back to the Gryffindor dormitory.

"Classes for the rest of the day will be cancelled," Remus told us as we walked. He looked sad and was reluctant to look anybody in the eye. I found this behaviour odd for Remus. "We have to get in touch with parents, and there's still the Ministry and the _Daily Prophet _to deal with. They want to interview survivors, but Dumbledore has told them no."

"Why wouldn't Dad say anything?" Ginny asked. "Tell them to back off."

"He has. Both the Ministry and the newspaper, but neither have listened. When I left, he was threatening to close Hogwarts to both media and the Ministry. Except the Aurors and those who need to be here, of course."

Remus sighed, staring straight ahead. Finally Harry asked the question we'd all wanted to know the answer to, but had dreaded to ask.

"Did you find Gabrielle?"

Remus closed his eyes briefly before shaking his head.

"We looked through everyone and didn't find her. However, there have been Ministry Officials at Beauxbatons, searching for more survivors, and they have not seen her either. So there is still hope, however small."

Ron gritted his teeth. "How is Fleur?"

"Not well," Remus answered truthfully. "She is helping us with the Healing, and is holding it together for the students, but I think she's pretty close to breaking point."

We had reached the portrait hole. Harry gave the password and we all moved inside. Instead of stopping in the common room, where everyone had suddenly gone silent, we moved straight up the stairs to Harry and Ron's dormitory.

"I meant to say earlier, Harry, that your idea for the house elves was an excellent one. They are efficient Healers and they did wonderfully at calming down students and cleaning them up. I also think the food and the drink helped."

Harry nodded, dropping his books on his bed. "I thought they might. And I knew they could at least help with cleaning students up, so you could tell who was who. I'm glad we thought of them. That should make them happy."

Remus dropped the books he carried on Harry's bed as well. We did the same and followed Remus back down to the common room. Gryffindor students crowded around him at the foot of the stairs.

"Today's classes are cancelled. There is too much confusion. They will resume tomorrow morning, so I suggest you use today to catch up on homework or to study for exams."

"Professor, was it You-Know-Who?"

"It would appear to be so, Colin. If you will excuse me, I must be getting back to the Great Hall. Please remain in the common room. We will provide lunch and dinner in here."

Remus made his way to the portrait hole, repeatedly telling students that he didn't have any more answers at this time.

Harry sighed as he turned to the rest of us. Without saying a word, we turned and headed back up the stairs to the boys' dormitory.

"Do you think Gabrielle is dead?" Ginny asked quietly. Harry, who had been in the process of picking up a book, looked up at her. His eyes blazed momentarily.

"Yes." He sat down on his bed. "I think she is dead."

"But why would they go after Beauxbatons?"

"Because Madame Maxime and Dumbledore were…are…friends. And they are our closest ally."

Hermione dropped on to Harry's bed, picking up a book. She flipped it open to a random page and started to read while we continued to talk. Soon, all of us were sitting on the beds, a book open in our laps, searching desperately for an answer.

I don't know how long we read for. I read two books and had started my third when the need to stand and stretch became too great. I noticed that night had fallen as I made my way over to the water jug. The door to the dormitory opened once more, causing me to turn and watch as Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan entered, followed closely by another boy around their age who I had never seen before. He dragged a trunk in behind him, letting it fall to the floor. His robes were slightly dishevelled, as was his hair. He had chubby, rosy cheeks and a friendly face, yet his eyes were the first thing I noticed. His eyes held the same fire, the same hatred, but the same deadened sadness, that Hermione's eyes held. The others all looked up from their books to stare.

Harry got over his shock first, jumping to his feet and moving toward the boy.

"Neville," he said quietly, shaking the boy's hand as he bent to pick up the trunk. He dragged it over to one of the other beds. "I'm surprised to see you. How are you doing?"

The boy named Neville said nothing, merely looked around the room at us all. His eyes came to rest on me, suspicion flaring in their depths.

"Who is she?" he asked quietly. Harry turned back to us, looking from Neville to me.

"A transfer student," Hermione answered softly. "From Canada. She's okay, Neville."

Neville's eyes slid sideways to look at Hermione. He slowly turned his head to face her, his eyes flashing again. I wrapped my arms around myself, fighting the urge to shiver. I knew who he was. He was the boy whose parents had died in the hospital blast.

I would probably never know the boy he had been, but the man he had become was full of hatred and rage. I was frightened of him.

"It's nice to see you back, Neville," Ginny whispered, moving forward to hug him. He accepted the hug but did not reciprocate. "How is your Gran?"

"Fine."

Ginny swallowed, glancing at Ron nervously. Neville's answer had been clipped and indicated that he wasn't interested in talking.

Ron clapped Neville on the shoulder but said nothing. Neville nodded curtly, spinning on his heel and marching out of the dormitory.

"Has he always been that intense?" I asked softly.

Seamus shook his head.

"Never," Dean answered. "He was always clumsy; accident prone. Could barely get his wand to work. I would never have believed he could become…that."

"Become what?" Hermione demanded, closing her book with a snap and jumping to her feet. She glared at Dean. "Become what?"

"So angry," Dean replied. "So full of hate. There was murder in his eyes."

"And also in his heart," Hermione spat. "Do you blame him? Could you feel any different? His mum and dad were murdered by Voldemort! You can't sit there and judge him, Dean! You don't know what he's gone through; what he's going through this very moment. You don't know what absolute courage it took for him to return to school. To Malfoy's taunting and Snape's sneer. Don't you dare judge him for it!"

Harry's hand closed on Hermione's shoulder. I couldn't help but stare at her. I hadn't seen her rage so close to the surface for ages.

"He wasn't judging, Hermione," Harry said quietly. "He was answering a question. He was merely observing that Neville has changed dramatically from the Neville we knew."

Harry glanced over at Ron. "Someone should check the Marauder's Map, make sure it is him."

"I'll go," Ginny offered, removing her wand from her pocket and holding it ready. "I wonder if he went and told Dumbledore he was back."

Harry shrugged, his hand still on Hermione's shoulder. I could see her trying to get her anger back under control.

"He didn't seem to like you much," Seamus said helpfully, grinning at me. I laughed.

"He's suspicious of her because she's new. He doesn't dislike her, he just doesn't trust her," Ron said, his eyes on Hermione's face. The anger had drained and the sadness had returned. She moved back to Harry's bed.

Ginny returned not long after, reporting that the angry young man was, in fact, the real Neville Longbottom. She bounced down on the bed beside Hermione.

"What's all this?" Seamus asked, picking up one of the books. "_Advanced Offensive Dark Charms?_ What are you reading?"

"It's homework," Harry explained quickly, holding up the parchment he'd been making notes on.

"Homework? How come we weren't assigned it?"

"It's Hermione's fault," Ron said, glowering at Hermione. She looked up at him, her eyebrows raised. "She started bragging to Re…Professor Lupin that she'd read practically every book in the library. So he assigned us the Restricted Section."

Dean sat at the end of Harry's bed, looking incredulous.

"Assigned you the Restricted Section?"

"We are to read every book in the Restricted Section by the end of the year. If we have completed this, we get extra credit," Hermione answered dully.

I couldn't help but smile at the surprise etched into Dean's and Seamus' features. It was all just a story, of course, but we could not tell them that.

"Sounds like fun," Seamus said sardonically.

"Not particularly," Hermione responded, making a few notes on her parchment. "That's why we're up here studying instead of sitting down there telling stories with everyone else."

Dean shook his head as he stood and made his way to the door.

"We'll leave you alone then. Let you get back to your work." He made a face as he thought about the work we had to do. Seamus followed Dean quickly.

"Why is it always me who gets blamed for extra homework?" Hermione demanded, throwing Harry's pillow at Ron. He was too slow and it hit him square in the face.

The rest of us started to laugh at the indignant look that spread over Ron's face. He threw the pillow back at Hermione, who ducked. It looked as though a pillow war would break out when Harry called a halt to it and made us get back to work.

"I think it's time to eat," Ron groaned hours later, setting his book down and stretching his back. "I'm starved."

"Me too," Hermione agreed, marking her place in her book before standing up. "Let's go down."

We moved down the stairs to the common room and weren't too surprised to find a table set up in front of the fire. It was laden with food and drink.

"Professor McGonagall told us to stay here," Colin Creevey explained, indicating the table. "They're still working on the Beauxbatons students in the Great Hall. She said they are bringing more survivors soon. Though that was at least an hour ago, so they might have the new survivors by now. She also said that our classes will resume tomorrow morning."

"I hope they find Gabrielle in that group," Ron said quietly, filling a plate and moving over to the squashy chairs by the fire. We murmured our agreement as we joined him.

We sat and listened to the many conversations around us. People were still wondering why it had been Beauxbatons. Harry glanced at his watch as we listened.

"It's already after eleven!" he exclaimed. "We have been reading all day!"

Hermione frowned, glancing at her own watch.

"The students should be going to bed. We do have classes tomorrow."

She stood and made her way over to a group of first year students. They tried to argue with her but she stood firm and soon they were moving up the stairs to their dormitories. The common room slowly emptied.

"Thanks for your help, Harry," she snapped as she sat back down. He grinned sheepishly at her.

"Sorry, but if Percy had told me I had to go to bed, I would have probably used the Full Body Bind on him."

Harry's eyes widened when he realised what he said. I saw him glance at Ron and Ginny, the apology already forming on his tongue. Both of them were laughing.

"I would have liked to see that," Ron laughed. Ginny agreed while Hermione huffed at them.

Finally Lavender and Parvati went up to bed, leaving the five of us alone in the common room. Hermione had returned to get the books already. We spread our notes over two tables. Harry walked around, studying them. He shook his head in frustration.

"That's been done already," he said at one point. He sighed and flopped down into a chair, running his hands through his hair. "What are we _missing?"  
_"What are you looking for?"

We all jumped, spinning to see who had spoken. There stood Neville, his eyes curious.

"A way to defeat Voldemort."

Neville nodded. "I figured as much."

"We've gotten no where."

Neville shrugged. "Maybe we're not meant to defeat him. Maybe he is to be the end of the wizarding world."

We all stared at Neville, shocked that he would even suggest such a thing.

"You don't really believe that, Neville," Ron protested. Neville turned to Ron.

"Don't I?" he asked, his eyes narrowed. "My family is gone so why should I care if the entire wizarding world dies too?"

Ginny stood, her eyes blazing angrily. "We lost our brother in that hospital, Neville, and we don't believe that! We're not giving up!"

"Be quiet, Ginny. You don't know what you're talking about."

Ron stood too, his ears red.

"Don't talk to her like that!"

"Calm down, all of you," Hermione barked angrily. All three of them glared in her direction.

"I am merely stating my opinion," Neville said softly. "It is their choice if they wish to take offence to it."

"I can't believe that you would be so…blasé…about it, Neville," Harry said quietly. "I can't believe you don't want justice."  
"Oh, I do want justice, Harry. But I am not going to sit and pore through a million books to find it."

Before Harry could respond, Neville turned and walked away.

"I can't believe him," Ron burst out angrily. "He-"

"Be quiet, Ron," Hermione snapped. "He lost his parents for goodness sake! He's bound to be angry. None of you even have a clue as to what he's going through!"

I couldn't help but look over at Harry. He looked back at me and we both turned to Hermione, unable to speak. Ron and Ginny were staring at her as well. Finally Harry stood, his body trembling with suppressed anger.

"Jules doesn't know what he's going through?" Harry repeated. "_I_ don't know what he's going through? We both lost our parents at Voldemort's hand, Hermione. All five of us have suffered because of Voldemort. Each one of us has a clue, Hermione, _a very big clue_ as to what Neville is going through because each one of us has _been_ there."

"How dare you even suggest that my pain over losing Percy is any less significant than Neville's pain just because it wasn't my _parent _who died!" Ginny cried angrily. "You were there when we lost him; you _know_ what we went through. How _dare _you even suggest it wasn't just as hard for us?"

"Neville lost his parents years ago, Hermione," Ron said quietly. "It's just that now he has to accept that they won't be coming back."

I could tell by the tears that were slipping down Hermione's cheeks that she hadn't meant to say what she'd said, but that did not stop me from being more than a little angry at her. However, it made me even angrier that Harry and Ginny, especially, were ganging up on her and making her feel even worse.

"Okay, you guys, that's enough," I spoke up. "Let her be, she didn't mean it to come out the way it did."

"That's rubbish!" Harry yelled, turning to me. "She just said-"

"I said that's _enough!" _I snarled. "I was here, I heard what she said, and you don't have to repeat it for me. What you could do is take a good look at that girl sitting there. If you did that, you would see how bad she feels for what she said. Leave her alone."

Harry opened his mouth to argue with me some more. I glared at him.

"Leave her alone, Harry. I mean it."

"I think we're all tired," Ron spoke up. "Maybe we should call it a night."

Harry glared at both Ron and I before snapping his book up and moving toward the stairs. Hermione lifted her chin as he passed.

"I'm sorry, Harry. I didn't mean that you-"

"Forget it, Hermione. It's fine. Good night."

Hermione recoiled as though Harry had struck at her. She stared at him a moment before nodding.

"Good night."

I stayed in the common room while the rest of them collected their things and made for the dormitories. Hermione was the last to leave.

"Thank you for standing up for me, Jules," she whispered. "I don't even know why I said it. It just came out and it was like I couldn't stop it."

"I'm not going to tell you that it's fine that you said it, Hermione, because it made me very angry, but I know that you didn't mean it, and I will get over it. People say things they don't mean sometimes. Don't worry about it. Ron's right. We are all very tired. It's been a tough day."

Hermione nodded. "Are you going to bed?"  
I shook my head. "No, I'm going to stay up and read for a while. See you in the morning."

Hermione gave me a swift hug before moving up the stairs to the dormitory. I smiled to myself as I collected the book I had been reading and made for the portrait hole.

I glanced around as I exited, feeling very exposed. I found myself wishing that I owned an Invisibility Cloak like Harry's, but that couldn't be helped. Besides, I wasn't going far.

I held my breath the whole way down the stairs. I slipped behind a tapestry as a couple of the ghosts drifted by, discussing the chaos in the Great Hall. When I was sure they had gone, I sneaked out from behind the tapestry and hurried down the corridor.

I didn't meet anybody on my way and I breathed a sigh of relief as the door to the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom came into sight. I could hear voices echoing from the bottom of the staircase so I broke into a run, opening the door to the classroom just as Professor Snape and Mr Filch came around the corner. I dove into the room, hoping that they hadn't seen me.

"Jules?"

I looked up as Sirius came out of the office, a bottle of Butterbeer clenched in his hand. He looked a little bleary eyed.

"Sirius, hide me!" I gasped, running across the classroom. I ducked into the office as the door opened into the classroom behind me. I leaned against the wall, my eyes wide. Remus sat on the couch and stared at me, shock evident on his face.

"What do you want, Severus?" Sirius demanded calmly, moving farther into the classroom.

"I want to know what student just came in here."

I bit my lip, trying to breathe as quietly as possible. Remus set his bottle of Butterbeer down on the table and moved toward the wardrobe opposite me.

"A student came in here?" Sirius asked as Remus reached into the wardrobe and withdrew a silvery Cloak. The other Invisibility Cloak.

"I saw a female student enter this classroom just as Filch and I came up the stairs. I didn't see who it was, but I'm certain it was a Gryffindor. And probably one of Potter's group. They don't put much stock in rules." I could picture the sneer on the Professor's sallow face. "They seem to think the rules are below them."

Remus rolled his eyes as he hurried toward me.

"There is no student in here, Snivellus," Sirius said softly, his voice suddenly angry. "I suggest you get going to where ever it was you were going."

Remus finally reached me and wrapped the Cloak securely around my shoulders. He planted a kiss on my invisible mouth before moving away again.

"I don't believe you," Snape said lazily. "I know a student entered. Didn't you see her, Filch?"

"I did."

"See? Where is she?"

"What _are_ you two going on about?" Remus asked, entering the classroom. "There is no female of any sort here, student or otherwise. Search the classroom and the office if you please. I assure you, you will not find anybody."

I carefully moved so I could see around the corner, making sure the Cloak stayed over my head. Snape was halfway across the classroom, an ugly scowl marring his face. Filch looked almost bored, which I found strange, as Filch seemed to enjoy nothing more than getting a student in trouble.

"I can't believe that on a day like we've just had you would even care about a student being out of bed. Of course students are out of bed. They're concerned about what is going on," Remus spat venomously. I stared at the back of his head, surprised by his angry response.

Apparently Snape was too. He stared at Remus for a moment before nodding and retreating to the door.

"Of course. I am sure that both of you will send the student back to her bed. My apologies."

The door closed behind him. Sirius and Remus both stared at each other.

"What the hell-?" Sirius started.

"He apologised and then he left?" Remus said at the same time. "He must be ill!"

I giggled which caused both of them to turn in my direction. Both of their eyes were flaming, though the flame in Sirius' eyes was anger and the flame in Remus' eyes was something I hadn't seen for a while. Had not been allowed to see. It made me ache to see the longing in his eyes.

"What are you doing here, Jules? You could be expelled."

I took the hood of the Cloak off my head as Sirius moved to the door and sealed it.

"I wanted to see how everyone was doing and I wanted to see if you found that girl," I explained quickly. "I also needed to get away from teenagers for a minute and I wanted to see Remus."

"Get away from teenagers?" Remus repeated, moving back into his office. He pulled out another bottle of Butterbeer and handed it to me. "Why is that?"  
"Oh…just some arguing going on. Neville Longbottom returned today."  
Neither men said anything, they merely nodded. So they did know.

"Neville was doing the fighting?"

"Not really. It was just tense and tempers flared is all. I just wanted to be around people who are closer to my age." I grinned wickedly. "I wanted to be the youngest for once."

Sirius made a silly face at me and Remus chuckled. I couldn't help but laugh as well. Remus pulled me into his lap and wrapped his arms around me, nuzzling the back of my neck.

"Mmm, I've missed you," he whispered, lacing his fingers through mine. I leaned back against him.

"I missed you too," I whispered back. "How are you guys doing?"

They didn't need to ask me what I meant. Both knew.

"If I never have to do it again, I won't complain," Sirius said quietly. Remus nodded his agreement.

"We haven't found Gabrielle at all yet," Remus added. "It's harder not knowing than it would be if she were dead."

"I know." I sighed. "How is her sister doing? Fleur?"

"She was amazing all day. She helped as much as she could and she was calm and cool and supportive. It wasn't until we had everyone sorted into hospital beds that she finally broke down. Bill helped her back to the Burrow and I think he will make up a Calming Draught for her." Remus sighed, resting his head against my shoulder. "He's had enough practice at it, he should be able to brew up a Calming Draught in his sleep."

I nodded, leaning back against Remus again. His arms wrapped even tighter around me. I could feel the tension that had built up in his muscles from the stressful day.

"I hope her sister is found alive," I said quietly.

"I hope she is found at all," Sirius sighed. "Even if she is not alive, I hope we find her. It's so hard not knowing whether or not she's alive."

"I know. I hope she's found too, but I also hope she's alive."

Remus sighed but didn't speak.

"At this point," Sirius said reluctantly, "we will be lucky to find anymore survivors. They're searching the remains of the castle, but so far…"

He didn't need to add that they hadn't found anything in the castle so far. It was a dead end.

Just like everything else had been.

Hey everyone. Thanks for the reviews, sorry about the time to update (it's hockey playoff season, so that's where much of my time has been spent for the last little while!) I can't get Neville right (I'm still working on him, the way he is now is kind of annoying me). I've started on the next chapter though, and hopefully it will be up soon. As usual, let me know what you think.


	20. Quidditch

All characters depicted here belong to JK Rowling. I own nothing but the pleasure of writing this particular story.

****

Quidditch

Fear grew inside the castle with each passing day. Many students declared that Voldemort would not dare to take the castle so long as Dumbledore were there, but it was unclear just who they were trying to convince.

Classes had resumed the day after the attack on the other school, but there was not a lot of learning going on. There were too many distractions.

Two weeks after the attack found Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny and myself back in the library. It was after dinnertime. I still only had classes on three days, but the others were skipping their lunch hours and breaks to look for something that could help. We were no closer to finding anything than we'd ever been. On top of that, Gabrielle had never been found.

Harry was reading aloud a passage from one of the many books he had spread around him when Colin and Dennis Creevey approached.

"Harry!" Dennis cried, his breath coming in gasps. "We thought we would find you in here!"

Harry broke off reading and looked up at the brothers. His eyebrows rose so high that they nearly disappeared into his hair.

"What's going on?" he asked.

Dennis appeared to be too upset to speak so Colin answered for him. The five of us held our breath, waiting for the bad news.

"Lisa Turpin's just been to see us, because she could not find either of you, and she wanted us to tell you that the Quidditch match has been rescheduled for this Saturday!"

There was a pause as we let this news sink in and allowed ourselves to relax.

"For heaven sake, Colin! You had us thinking that it was something to do with Voldemort!" Hermione exploded, shoving her hair out of her eyes angrily. "You really need to be careful with how you word things!"

Colin stared at Hermione for a moment before turning back to Harry, who still hadn't said anything. I looked at him and his face had gone quite pale.

"Didn't you hear me, Harry? You have a Quidditch match this weekend and you haven't practiced for it! None of you have even been near the pitch since before-" Colin stopped speaking, his eyes widening. Hermione glared at him but said nothing.

"I had forgotten all about the match, Harry!" Ginny exclaimed.

"What is the big deal?" Hermione snapped. "You can beat Ravenclaw blindfolded. It's not as though Quidditch is all that important in the big picture anyway."

"It would be nice to have something to take everyone's minds off things," I pointed out. Hermione frowned slightly and then nodded her reluctant agreement.

"We have to have a practice," Harry said, getting to his feet suddenly. Hermione and I looked up at him as Ginny and Ron also rose. "Gin, go book the pitch for as soon as possible. Ron, Dennis…find everyone. Tell them to get to the pitch." He turned and looked at Hermione and I. "Do you mind if we leave you two?"

"Not at all," I said, waving my hand nonchalantly, causing one of our books to fly off the table and land on the floor at Colin's feet. Colin stared at me in surprise and Madam Pince sent a dirty look in our direction. "Oops."

Hermione laughed. "You are so clumsy, Jules. I didn't even see you hit the book this time!" She waved at Harry as well. "Go and have your practice. We'll keep looking."

The others hurried out, leaving Hermione and I alone in the library. She turned to me, a stern look on her face.  
"Be careful, Jules. Colin has a big mouth."

"It was an accident," I protested weakly. "I forget that my hands are lethal, though before I could wave without causing damage!"

"That's because your powers are growing, you're working at them," Hermione explained with a slight chuckle, bending down to pick up the book that I'd sent flying. "You'll learn to control that so you can wave without fear of maiming someone before too long." She handed the book to me and settled back in her chair.

"I can't believe Colin," she muttered finally. "I thought he was coming to announce that the world was ending, not that some stupid Quidditch match finally had a date."

I grinned at Hermione.

"People sure get excited about their sports," I agreed, flipping open the book that I'd tossed. I looked down and started to read, flipping pages randomly. The book opened to a page describing something called the Jelly Legs Curse. "This sounds interesting. I bet it would feel strange to be hit by it."

"What's that?" Hermione asked, looking up from her book. I showed her the page. She read the name of the Curse and frowned. "Where did this come from? It's not in the Restricted Section."

I shrugged. "I don't know. It was on the table and it was the book I sent flying."

Hermione nodded, her frown deepening. "I don't think there will be anything that can help us in that book."

"Oh." I looked back down at the book, flipping another page. "I'm just going to flip through it anyway. Maybe something will interest me."

Hermione shrugged. "Suit yourself." She looked back down at her book.

I continued to flip through the pages randomly, once in a while looking up through the window. I could not see the Quidditch pitch from the library, but as Harry and the others had not returned, I assumed they had managed to get some practice time. The sun had broken through finally and things were starting to warm rapidly. I found myself wondering if the wizarding world had anything like sunglasses. The things you think of when you're bored.

I sighed and glanced back down at my book, about to flip the page again when the name of the charm caught my eye.

__

The Shield Charm, it read. _Used properly, this Charm will cast a temporary wall around the wizard or witch casting it. It will deflect minor curses and jinxes._ Under that was the word for casting the Charm and an illustration of a wizard casting the Shield Charm. His Shield looked like a large mirrored bubble.

"What sort of curses will the Shield Charm deflect?" I asked. Hermione looked up again, her eyes slightly impatient.

"All sorts," she answered. "They don't block everything though. I think certain curses, like the Unforgivable Curses, would just go straight through them. I don't know for sure, of course, but that is what I assume. Though Harry blocked that nasty curse I got hit with in fifth year with a Shield Charm." Hermione continued to speak, but my mind started to wander, as minds tend to do when an idea is coming into them.

"Hermione, what were the crystals used for?" I interrupted. She raised her eyebrows at me. "Sorry. I know you've explained, but I want to know for sure."

"No, it's okay. We used them to strengthen our powers. The Reductor Curse is not an overly powerful Curse, but with the crystals, we were able to use a simple Reductor Curse to bring down the veil."

I could almost see the light come on in Hermione's brain. I smiled, knowing that she had caught up to my train of thought.

"Can we cast the Shield Charm through the crystals?" I asked. Hermione stood, nodding her head vigorously.

"We can. We could…I don't know how we could do it, but we could…a few of us could set up the crystals… "  
I sat back, watching Hermione try to work it out. She kept talking, not finishing any of her sentences. Finally she snatched up the book and ran out of the library. Madam Pince stared after her, her eyes wide.

"She just stole a book!" she shrieked at me.

"No, I'm going to check it out," I answered quickly, standing and moving over to her. I gave her the name of the book and made to go back to clean the table up.

"Don't worry about it, girl. I will put them away. Students never put them back in the right spots."

I stared at the librarian and then nodded, grabbing our backpacks and running out of the library after Hermione.

I didn't even pause. I ran straight to Remus' classroom. There were packs of students in the hall, each of them chattering on about Hermione running past them. They immediately thought that something else had happened. I entered the class.

"-and the crystals," Hermione was exclaiming, her breath coming in gasps as she excitedly tried to explain to Remus. He was looking at her, his eyes slightly surprised.

"A Shield Charm?"

I nodded, catching up to Hermione and dropping our bags on the floor.

"It could work, Remus," Hermione cried, flipping open the book to the page and then rummaging through her backpack. I stared as she pulled out a crystal.

"Why are you carrying that around?" Remus and I both asked. Hermione shrugged.

"They might come in handy."

She set the crystal on Remus' desk and pointed her wand at it.

"Magis Protego!" she cried. The Charm burst out of her wand, but instead of covering her like the book illustrated, it shot through the crystal and branched out in several directions. Remus frowned again.

"But what will a Shield Charm do?"

Hermione shook her head. "I don't know. Something. Anything. It's a start, right?" She started to pace, twisting her hands as she walked. "Maybe Harry could use it to cast the Charm around himself, so it will keep Avada Kedavra out. Or maybe we could get a bunch of us and cast it around Harry so that the Death Eaters can't get to him…Remus, I don't know, but it's a start!"

"Yes, Hermione, it is a start." He stood and moved to his wardrobe, pulling out a small leather bag. He dumped it on the table, revealing more crystals. He set them up on his desk. "You're saying that we get people to stand here and cast the Shield Charm around Harry and Lord Voldemort?"

Hermione nodded. "We can try that."

Remus shook his head. "There is no _try,_ Hermione. We must _do._ Harry must survive and he must vanquish Voldemort. Before we challenge Voldemort, we have to be absolutely positive that the spell will work."

Hermione pushed her hands into her hair, pulling it back from her face. She exhaled sharply.

"We need to speak to Harry about it." She snatched up the book right out from under Remus' nose and ran out of the classroom.

Remus and I stared at each other a moment before turning and following Hermione from the room.

"I disagree with you, Hermione. We've only had a couple days' practice, yes, but we know our moves and our strategy. We can still win."

Hermione frowned at Harry slightly before continuing. She had to raise her voice slightly to be heard over the sound of hundreds of thundering feet.

"That's not what I meant, Harry. You are taking an enormous risk! You should just-"

"If you even think the word 'forfeit', our friendship will be effectively terminated," Ron declared. Hermione sent a filthy look in his direction before turning back to Harry.

"Harry, please reconsider. We don't know if all the Beauxbatons students are legitimate. They could be Voldemort's spies. Or Death Eaters!"

"What are they going to do, Hermione? Knock him out of the air in a stadium full of people, in plain view of everyone?" Ginny asked incredulously, her eyebrows raised.

"Ginny, that's exactly what they could do! That many people, who would see who did it?"

"You know better than that, Hermione," Sirius said, frowning at her. "We have ways of tracking spells, for one, and if somebody fired off a spell, _somebody_ would notice."

"Oh really?" Hermione said, turning on Sirius, her eyes blazing. "Is that so? Why is it, then, that Professor Quirrell nearly had Harry off his broom in first year? Nobody noticed him muttering his hex. Nobody knew he was doing it but Snape. And I doubt that Professor Snape would be so inclined as to save Harry again!"

For the first time, I saw something close to fear in Harry's eyes. He glanced at Ron before turning to Hermione. The fear was gone.

"That's true, Hermione. It could also be somebody from Slytherin who tries to get me out of the air. I'm not afraid, Hermione. Dumbledore is here and so are all of you. Nobody is going to cast Avada Kedavra from that distance. They run the risk of hitting somebody else and going to Azkaban for life. The worst they could do is…I don't know, use the Stunning Spell, in which case, Dumbledore has caught me from falling before, so I am sure he'd do it again." Hermione opened her mouth to protest, but Harry caught her hands in his. "Listen to me, Hermione. I am not afraid. If I don't play, then they win. And I don't just mean Ravenclaw, I mean Voldemort and his followers. If they keep me from living my life, they win. Don't you see? I have to play."

Hermione's jaw clenched as she listened to Harry. I could see that she still disagreed with him, but she finally nodded.

"Alright, Harry. But take your wand up with you. Please."

Harry smiled at her. "I've been taking my wand up with me since the Dementors in third year. Don't worry about me, Hermione. I know that with the four of you, plus Dumbledore, in the crowd, I am perfectly safe."

He bent and gave Hermione a hug. She bit her lower lip as she hugged him back. He smiled as he let her go and turned to me.

"Your first Quidditch match. Are you excited?"

"Completely and totally excited," I answered, grinning widely. "Maybe a little scared."

"Scared?" Ron repeated. "Why?"

"Are you kidding? Flying around on a thin little broomstick a hundred feet in the air? No thank you."

Ginny laughed. "We'll get you up in the air one of these days, Jules. I promise you that."  
I shook my head fervently. Harry laughed as he gave me a quick hug.

"We should get up to our seats," Remus said quietly, taking my hand. "I asked Dean and Seamus to save us four, but who knows if they will be able to."

"You go on ahead," Ron said. "Hermione will be up in a moment."

I watched as he took Hermione by the hand and led her down the hall, away from us. There was concern evident in his eyes as he bent his head low to hers.

"Come on," Sirius said, indicating we should go. "We have to let the Captains speak to the team."

Harry grinned as Sirius clapped him on the shoulder. Ginny waved at us as she opened the door and entered the locker room.

"Do you really think he'll be okay?" I asked quietly as we started up the stairs toward Dean and Seamus. Both of them were waving like mad at us.

"Of course he'll be okay," Sirius said confidently. "Harry's a good flyer and he has a good head on his shoulders. And Ron and Ginny are up there with him. If anything happens, one of them will be in the air with him, and then he's got us on the ground."

Remus gave my hand a squeeze. "Just enjoy the game, Jules. Harry will be fine."

I nodded, smiling at Dean and Seamus as we entered the row. Both of them looked at Remus and my joined hands with raised eyebrows, but neither said a word. I glanced down and it dawned on me.

Remus was holding my hand in public.

We'd just broken one of the rules set down by Dumbledore.

Remus must have realised it too because he shot me a look of horror before turning to Dean and Seamus.

"Jules is a little afraid of heights. She needed someone to hold her hand to come up here."  
"Oh, okay," Dean said, nodding understandably. Seamus looked a little sceptical but said nothing.

"I have a cousin like that," Dean added. "She won't go up high even if somebody is holding her hand."  
"Remus might have to hold my hand all game," I said casually. "I will be fine at times, but then I remember how high I am and I tend to…get nervous."

I heard Sirius begin to cough behind me. Dean nodded as I sat down next to him.

"If you need to, you can also hold my hand," he offered kindly. I smiled at him.

"Thank you, Dean."

"Nice save, Moony," Sirius whispered. "A little unbelievable, perhaps, but quick thinking."

Remus shook his head, running his free hand through his hair. "I can't believe we did that."

"But now we can hold hands all game," I whispered, grinning at Remus. He smiled back at me and gave my hand another squeeze.

I had just noticed Hermione running up the stairs toward us when the stadium suddenly exploded with noise. The scarlet-and-gold clad Gryffindor team had just come out on the field, closely followed by the blue-and-bronze clad Ravenclaws.

"Here come the two teams, evenly matched this year. As we all know, these teams were to meet earlier in the year, but unforeseen circumstances caused the postponement of the game."  
I listened to the boy doing the commentating. I didn't know who he was, Hermione had told me his name and that he was from Hufflepuff, but I had never heard of him.

"It wasn't postponed, it was forfeited, you git!" Seamus shouted. "Because Ravenclaw are a bunch of -"

What Ravenclaw were a bunch of, we never heard. Harry had shaken the Ravenclaw captain's hand and the teams had mounted their brooms. It was so loud you could barely hear yourself think.

Hermione sat down beside Sirius and grinned over at me.

"Jules, you are stark white. Relax, they will be fine. They've been doing this for years."

I glanced at her, slightly surprised at her change of heart, and took a deep breath. I felt my heart leap into my throat as the teams pushed off from the ground.

"And they're off, Gryffindor has the Quaffle. That's Dennis Creevey flying ahead…"

I tuned the commentator out, turning to ask Remus some of the finer points of the game. He was deep in conversation with Sirius, so I turned to Dean instead. He grinned and answered each question patiently. Seamus was looking at me with narrowed eyes.

"Don't you have Quidditch in Canada?"

"Oh, yes, of course," I answered, not knowing if it was true or not. "But I never went to a game."

"Why not?" Dean asked.

"I don't know." I smiled sheepishly. "I've never had anybody drag me up the stairs to come and watch before."

Dean chuckled at that. I sat back and glanced at Remus. He grinned at me before turning back to Sirius. I noticed that both of them had their wands in their laps.

Before long, I had pulled my hand out of Remus' hand. Both of them were clenched into tight fists in my lap as I watched the quick pace of the game. Gryffindor was ahead by a score of ninety to forty and Ginny was racing back up the pitch with the Quaffle when Harry suddenly dove. Everybody in the stadium and even on the pitch stopped what they were doing to watch him.

"Come on, Harry!" Hermione screamed, standing in her seat. "I don't see it, Sirius!"

"Neither does he, he's Feinting!" Sirius yelled back hoarsely. "Good lord that kid can fly!"

"Fainting?" I yelped, not understanding. "Is he okay?"

"He's pretending that he sees the Golden Snitch, trying to get the other team's Seeker to dive. See? She took the bait." Remus pointed to the girl on the broom that had gone into a dive just after Harry did. She was about level with him when he pulled out of the dive and soared straight back up into the air.

"She's going to get hurt!" I cried.

I was wrong. She pulled out of the dive at the last minute and soared up after Harry. I could see her shooting a glare at him. He grinned back at her.

"Lisa's a pretty good flyer too," Hermione commented, settling back into her seat. "I used to think Cho Chang could fly, but that dive would have flattened her."

Dean and Seamus nodded in agreement as the game started once more.

"Is Ron the goaltender?" I asked, watching him guard the three golden hoops.

"Basically, yes. His position is called Keeper," Remus explained, his eyes following the match. "Ginny, Dennis and Natalie are Chasers and Harry is the Seeker."

I nodded, watching as Harry soared high above the other players, his eyes searching everywhere. Even knowing nothing about Quidditch, as I did, I could tell that Harry was the best player out there. I could feel something warm snaking through my veins and I realised with some surprise that it was pride. Pride for a cousin that I barely knew. I smiled and took Remus' hand again. Dean noticed this and gave my arm a squeeze.

My hand didn't stay in Remus' for long this time either. The speed of the game intensified, turning the players into blue or red blurs. I glanced away to look at the scoreboard when a gasp sounded through the stadium. I turned back quickly, expecting to see something terrible.

"He's seen it!" Remus shouted, climbing to his feet. "Come on, Harry!"

"Teachers are supposed to be impartial!" Hermione screamed, her hands gripping Sirius' arm tight. Her face was white except for the red marks from her fingers. "GO, HARRY!"

I watched, wide eyed, as Harry flew the entire length of the pitch. His eyes were determined and his body rigid. He was flat against his broom and everybody knew that Lisa, the other team's Seeker, had no chance of catching him. She still tried, of course, but she wasn't even close to him when he held his hand in the air triumphantly.

The stadium exploded once again. Hermione turned and hugged everyone she could while screaming like a lunatic. In the air, the Gryffindor team had all converged on Harry, nearly pulling him off his broom. They sank to the floor of the pitch as one ecstatic group.

"Come on!" Sirius hollered, inclining his head. "Let's go down there."

Remus grabbed my hand again, pulling me toward the stairs. We rushed down to the field, Dean and Seamus on our heels. I glanced back at the scoreboard. The final score was Gryffindor 280 points to Ravenclaw's 130.

"See, Hermione?" Harry bellowed as we came closer. "I told you I would be okay."  
Hermione said nothing, merely raced up to him and threw her arms around him. He glanced down at her, surprised. She pulled away from him and went to hug both Ron and Ginny.

"Amazing game," Sirius said softly, gripping Harry's shoulder. "James couldn't have flown better."

Harry smiled at Sirius but said nothing. He turned to me.

"So, Miss Jules, did you enjoy your first Quidditch match?"

"Oh, Harry, it was so incredible!" I replied, my face breaking into an enormous smile. I couldn't help myself, I threw my arms around Harry as well. "I will never forget it."

Since Hermione and I had found the Shield Charm in the book a couple days before, neither of us had been able to tell Harry about it. It had seemed that the three of them ate, slept and talked of nothing but Quidditch, which was understandable. Hermione and I planned to pull him aside after the game and show him what we'd come up with.

Neither of us had bargained for the party being thrown in the Gryffindor common room.

"I can't believe I forgot there would be a party," Hermione said with a sigh, shaking her head. "There's always a party, even if we lose."

I smiled. "There's always tomorrow. It's Sunday, so we have all day."

Hermione nodded. "I'm not really in the mood for a party. I think I will go up to the dormitory and study for NEWTs."

"Okay," I answered. "I might stay down here."  
Hermione grinned at me. "You _could_ go and visit a certain someone, you know. Nobody would notice you missing, there's too much craziness in here right now."

I glanced around and leaned toward Hermione. "You read my mind," I whispered. "That's where I'm going."  
Hermione chuckled and bade me goodnight. I sat back in my chair and watched the party for a while. Both Ron and Ginny had disappeared just after the game. Harry was surrounded by just about every student in Gryffindor house.

Not long after Hermione went to bed, Ron and Ginny came pouring in through the portrait hole, laden with bags of butterbeer and candy and all sorts of snacks. People started cheering as Ron tossed several Chocolate Frogs to people. Ginny made her way over to me, setting her bags on a table as she passed.

"Why are you sitting over here?" she asked, sitting in Hermione's vacant chair. "Where is Hermione?"  
"Gone to the dormitory to study," I answered. Ginny shook her head. "I'm going to go visit Remus, I think."  
Ginny grinned mischievously but said nothing. I got to my feet, slowly making my way to the portrait hole. Nobody noticed me.

I sighed as I closed the portrait behind me. I wasn't really doing anything wrong as it was before curfew, but I still felt like I was somehow breaking the rules. Maybe it was because I knew I shouldn't be going to visit Remus.

I turned a corner and ran headlong into Professor Snape. He hit me so hard that I stumbled and very nearly fell. I was quite surprised when I felt his hand around my arm, pulling me back to my feet.

"Er, thanks," I muttered, stepping to the side. "Sorry about that."

"Where are you going?" he asked me, standing in front of me.

"Um, to see Professor Lupin or Professor Black. I have a question that I need answered."

Snape's eyes narrowed slightly. "Anything I can help with?"  
I stared at him, unsure of what was going on. This was not the Snape that I knew.

"No. No thank you." I stepped around him again and again he stepped in front of me.

"Are you sure? Both Black and Lupin are incompetent fools."

I frowned at Snape and tried to step around him once more. Again he blocked me.

"Let me pass, please," I said angrily. "Thank you for your offer, but I would really rather ask one of them."

Snape's eyes narrowed again and he grabbed my shoulders, lowering his face to mine. I gasped and tried to break free of his grip.

"What are you doing?" I cried, struggling against his hold.

"Calm down, you silly girl. I am not going to hurt you." He bared his yellow teeth at me. "I know what you are."

I stopped struggling and stared up at him. "What?"

"I know what you are."  
I scoffed. "Do you? Well, that's great. I know what you are as well. Let go of me!"

Snape sneered again, his fingers biting into my shoulders. I could feel tears welling in my eyes from the pain.

"I said let me go!" I screamed, bringing my hands up and pushing against his chest. I don't know how I did it, because I hadn't said anything, but I could feel heat blaze through my hands. Snape let out a yelp and let me go, staggering backwards. I stared at him and he stared back. A triumphant look came into his eyes.

"I knew it."

I swallowed and turned on my heel, breaking into a run in the opposite direction. I didn't know what he knew about me, but I didn't think it would be good.

I found myself approaching the door to Remus' classroom from the other direction. I couldn't see Snape anywhere, so I flung the door open quickly.

Sirius and Remus both looked up in surprise. Both were holding quills and appeared to be grading a stack of parchment. Remus' eyebrows furrowed and he was on his feet in a heartbeat.

"What's wrong?" he demanded, coming toward me. He sealed the door behind me and quickly pulled me into his arms. "Julianne, what happened?"

I shook my head, trying to catch my breath. Sirius pulled out a chair for me and went to fetch a glass of water.

"Snape," I breathed, drinking the water gratefully and sinking down in the chair. "He grabbed me and wouldn't let me go."

I looked up at them both and saw the steely look in Remus' eyes and absolute loathing in Sirius'.

"What did he say?" Remus spat angrily.

"He said that he knows what I am." I took another drink. "I told him that I know what he is too."

Remus and Sirius looked at each other in surprise.

"How would he know?" Sirius asked. "What else did he say?"

I bit my lip. "He was hurting me and I went to push him away…and my hands…"  
"Shocked him," Remus supplied. I nodded. "Damn it."

"When that happened, he got this look in his eyes and he said 'I knew it'. Remus, he knows who I am."

Remus shook his head. "No. He knows _what_ you are. All he knows is that you can do wandless magic."

"Isn't that enough?" I demanded, folding my hands together. "Doesn't that give away who I am?"

Sirius shook his head. "No, not at all."

I rubbed my shoulder gently where Snape's fingers had bitten into it. Remus frowned again and gently pulled my robe to the side. He let out an expletive and sighed.

"No wonder he was hurting you. You have finger marks on your shoulders."

I turned my head to try to see. All I saw was that my shoulders were very red.

Sirius' jaw clenched angrily. He stood and went into the office. Remus pulled a chair up beside me and pulled me into his lap.

"It's okay, Jules. We'll find out his intentions."

"He scared me, Remus. I don't trust him one bit."

Remus nodded, his forehead on my shoulder and his arms wrapped around my middle.

"I understand, and I don't really trust him either. Dumbledore does and we have to trust Dumbledore."

I gritted my teeth, leaning my head on Remus' shoulder. "Couldn't Dumbledore be wrong?" I whispered. Remus sighed, his breath tickling my ear.

"I sure hope not, Jules."

"Here," Sirius said softly, handing me a washcloth. "I put a slight Freezing Charm on it, so it should get rid of those red marks and any soreness."

"Thank you, Sirius," I said as Remus took the cloth and pressed it to left shoulder, which was a bit redder than the other. Sirius nodded and started gathering up his parchment.

"Where are you going, Padfoot?" Remus asked, not looking up from my shoulder. Sirius smiled sheepishly.

"Thought I'd go say hello to Fang. He hasn't had much company lately. I can finish marking the homework there."

Remus looked up at Sirius, his eyes narrowed shrewdly. Sirius grinned again.

"Okay, so maybe I'm letting you two be alone. It's been a while since you've been able to just be with each other."

I felt my face heat up at what Sirius was implying. Sirius left the room without another word, sealing the door behind him.

"Well…that was unexpected," Remus said softly, his lips brushing over my shoulder. I nodded.

"Completely," I agreed as Remus moved the washcloth to my other shoulder.

"I can't believe how red your shoulders are."  
"I'm going to have bruises tomorrow," I added, tilting my head to the side as Remus nibbled my earlobe.

He sighed softly, his hands sliding down my arms and closing around mine. I smiled up at him as he started to walk backwards toward his office.

Sorry again about the length of time to update. Hockey is over now (my team lost), so hopefully I'll be able to spend more time on this. Thanks again for the reviews and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

PS. For those of you who haven't read Harry Potter and the Looking Glass…this is KIND OF a sequel to it (in that events that happened in it have also happened in this story), so if you haven't read it, I do suggest doing so. The crystals will make more sense if you do.


	21. The Crystal Shield

All characters depicted here belong to JK Rowling. I own nothing but the pleasure of writing this particular story.

****

The Crystal Shield

"No, I like the idea, I do, but I still don't understand how it will help us. That's all."

Hermione sighed, running her fingers through her hair in a frustrated way.

"I don't know yet, Harry. But we'll figure out how it will help. I _know_ the Shield Charm will help somehow."

Harry frowned and stopped pacing. He plunked down in one of the armchairs and pulled the book toward him.

The five of us were sitting in the Gryffindor common room. It was the day after that amazing Quidditch game and everyone else was still in bed.

"What do you think, Ginny?" Harry asked, glancing over at a bleary eyed Ginny. She picked her head up off her hand and blinked at him a moment before responding.

"What do Remus and Sirius think?"

"We haven't mentioned it to Sirius yet. Remus was like you. He thought the idea had merit, but he didn't know what we could do with it."

Harry frowned again, sitting forward in the chair.

"You say we use the crystals, but what do they do? Improve our powers, yes. But why do we improve the Shield Charm? What is the point?"

"To keep out the Unforgivable Curses, of course. To protect you from Death Eaters while you're battling Voldemort," Hermione answered shrilly. Harry stared at her.

"Don't you remember, Hermione? They can't kill me. Not even with Avada Kedavra."

"Pardon?" I asked, looking up at Harry. "What do you mean that they can't kill you?"

Harry sighed softly and didn't answer. Hermione and Ron quickly filled me in. Harry was Voldemort's equal, which I knew already. That meant that only Voldemort could kill him. That, I hadn't known.

"But remember when Malfoy hit you with the Killing Curse last year, Harry? It knocked you silly."

"I remember. That was just after I killed Bellatrix Lestrange. Just after Hagrid…" Harry trailed off and looked out the window. "Right then. We need to figure this out."

Ginny waved her wand, conjuring up a tray of sandwiches and a couple jugs of pumpkin juice.

"I didn't know you could do that," Hermione commented in surprise.

"Please, I've been watching Mum do it for years."

"Sandwiches for breakfast?" Ron added sceptically, raising his eyebrows at his sister.

"They're bacon and egg," Harry said with a laugh. "Breakfasty enough."

"Breakfasty? Is that even a word?"

"Be quiet, Miss Brain."

I smiled to myself as I listened to them banter back and forth. I shook my head, remembering doing the same thing with my friends.

"What's wrong, Jules?"

I shook my head again, smiling at them. "Nothing, just trying to shake the cobwebs loose."

Ron chuckled, taking another sandwich from the tray.

Ginny grinned mischievously at me.

"I figured you would be tired, considering the way you looked when you got in this morning."

I stared at her, my eyebrows raised. Hermione glared at her while Ron and Harry looked up in surprise.

"This morning? Where did you go?"

"How did you-?"

"I was already up when you snuck in. I was half sleeping in the chair by the fire."

Hermione continued to glare at her friend while Harry and Ron started to put two and two together.

"You went to visit Remus?" Ron asked. "I thought you'd gone to bed!"

"I never said I'd gone to bed. I told Ginny last night I was going to go visit."

"Yeah, but…you-"

"What's the big deal, Ron?" Harry demanded. "It's not as though she's a child. She should be allowed to see Remus once in a while. You can see as much as I can that they miss being together."

"Nobody saw me," I added. "I mean, I did run into Professor Snape last night, but I said I had a question for Remus or Sirius."

"You ran into Snape?" Ginny repeated.

"Literally, actually," I answered. "He grabbed my shoulders and said that he knew what I was."

Hermione raised her eyebrows.

"He grabbed your shoulders?"

I pulled the neckline of my robes to the side a bit, showing the slight bruises that the Potions Professor had caused.

"You should go to Dumbledore!" Harry said angrily, standing up abruptly. "He caused injury!"

"I figured to mention to Professor Dumbledore that Snape said he knows what I am." I quickly explained about pushing him away and shocking him with my hands.

"Good!" Ron exclaimed, his ears red.

"Not really, Ron," Ginny said quietly. "She proved that he was right."

"Go to Dumbledore," Harry urged again. Hermione nodded her agreement.

"Let's get back to the Shield Charm," I said quickly. "We still need to figure it out."

"And we need more sandwiches," Ron pointed out. Ginny sighed and waved her wand again.

Hours later, we had moved up to the boys' dormitory for privacy, but were no closer to figuring anything out.

"Still," Ginny pointed out. "We're a step closer than we were a few days ago."

Harry frowned, picking up two of the crystals in his hands and setting both on the floor, five feet apart.

"What're you-?" Ron began. Hermione held up her hand to silence him.

"I want to see if two crystals will do what I hope they'll do," Harry said slowly. "If they do, then we can…" He trailed off.

"You've been spending too much time with Hermione," Ron said grumpily. Harry grinned slightly, standing behind one of the crystals.

__

"Magis Protego," he said quietly, pointing his wand at the crystal. It hit and branched off in every direction like it had before. Harry dropped his hand and the Shield dissolved. "Damn."

"What are you trying to do?" Ginny asked.

"Connect them," Hermione answered quickly. "Try again, but try to _make _it connect."

Harry raised his eyebrows, but did as she suggested. This time the Shield splintered off in every direction, but each splinter sped toward the other crystal. Harry's eyes narrowed as he forced it toward the other crystal.

"Come on," Hermione whispered, her eyes fixed on the other crystal. One of the splinters of the Shield made contact with the other crystal and it stuck. The rest of the Shield connected with the first splinter and formed a small dome shaped Shield between the two crystals.

"Yes!" Hermione cried. "I have an idea, and I'm sure it's the same one Harry's had."

"Jules battles Voldemort," Harry said. Hermione closed her mouth and turned to stare at Harry.

"What?" she breathed. "No, she-"

"Yes, she can," Harry said. "Jules is the Saviour. She can battle him. We have a circle around them, trapping them both, so the Death Eaters can not help him. Then I cast the Dome Shield around the circle, so the Death Eaters can not take out the Order. They can't kill me."

"B-but, what can I do against Voldemort?" I stammered. "Send a Patronus at him? Turn him into a needle?"

Ron chuckled at the image that brought into his mind.

"Do what comes instinctively," Harry said. "Stop his curses. It will confuse him."  
"But she can't kill him," Ginny said quietly. "If she battles him, she will lose, Harry. He will kill her."

"_You _need to battle Voldemort," Ron reminded Harry. "_You _need to beat him."

"I _know _that I need to battle-Did you just call him Voldemort?" Harry demanded. Ron grinned sheepishly.

"I practised."  
Hermione snorted quietly, covering her mouth with her hand. Ron glared at her.

"Anyway," Harry continued, shaking his head. "I know I have to defeat him. But if Jules can wear him down…get his wand…He's as good as dead."

"Will Avada Kedavra work on him?" I asked.

"I don't know."

"That's a great plan, Harry!" Ginny cried, standing. "Send Jules, first year magic student, in to face the most evil wizard ever. We don't even know if she can stop Avada Kedavra with her hands. He isn't as good as dead, _she _is! It's suicide, Harry!" Ginny paused. "And then to send you in…when you don't know if Avada Kedavra works on him…"

Harry sighed, taking his glasses off and rubbing his eyes.

"We could find a Boggart," Hermione whispered.

"What good will that do?" I asked.

"Harry's Boggart," Ron answered quietly. "It turns into Voldemort."

"But it will change with each of us, so the only one who can test themselves against it is Harry."

"And it might not work against the Boggart Voldemort," Harry added. "A Boggart won't work." He bit his lip and turned to me. "May I try something with you, Jules?"

I bit my lip as well, studying him closely.

"What do you want to try?" I asked softly. Harry sighed.

"Could you guys give us a minute?"

Hermione frowned, her brow creasing. She looked ready to protest when Ron caught her hand and pulled her from the room. Ginny looked at Harry and I for a moment before following her brother from the room.

"Now I'm afraid," I admitted. Harry didn't smile. He rubbed his eyes tiredly.

"You have every right to be, Jules. What I want to try…if you can't block it…It's very illegal."

"Harry, you're not making any sense."

"I want to try a couple of curses on you, see what you can block."

"You want to work up to Avada Kedavra."

Harry shook his head. "No," he answered vehemently. "I would never send that curse in the direction of a friend."

"Then what is illegal?"

Harry swallowed.

"I don't want to send Avada Kedavra at you, but…the Cruciatus Curse. I want to know if you can block it."

I stared at him, my mouth slightly open. I realised it was and closed it with a snap.

"But…but that's what Hermione's dad died from. It's the Torture Curse!"

"And it hurts, Jules, believe me, it hurts like hell. But we have to see what is the highest power of curse you can block, because if you can stop the Cruciatus, you may be able to stop Avada Kedavra."

"But if I can't stop it-"

"Then you get to learn what the Cruciatus Curse feels like," Harry admitted apologetically.

"But you could get into trouble, get expelled!"

"I could. But if I get expelled, then Hogwarts should be safe."

I rolled my eyes. "Harry, I have a hard time believing he's going to attack Hogwarts. Albus is here. Not to mention that every student here would fight him."

Harry shook his head. "Not every student. There are a lot of students that are very much on his side. Look at Malfoy. Do you think he's the only one?"

I glared at Harry for a moment then rubbed my eyes.

"You're probably right," I admitted, sighing.

"Jules," Harry said quietly, taking my hands and sitting down on his bed. I sat next to him. "I don't want to aim the Cruciatus Curse at you any more than you want me to, but we have to know what you can handle. And I firmly believe that if you can stop the Cruciatus Curse, you will be able to stop Avada Kedavra."

"But you don't know that."

"No, and we won't know that until we face Voldemort."

"Couldn't you try the Imperious Curse instead?"

"Jules, I will try the Imperious Curse but it's not nearly as powerful as the Cruciatus."

I bit my lip, knowing I should say no. I could see that he did not really want to use those curses on me. I could tell from the look on his eyes; he was almost hoping I would say no.

But I agreed with him. If I was to help at all, we had to find out as much about my power as possible. And that meant finding out what curses I could stop.

"Do you promise to lift the Curse as soon as it hits me?"

Harry stared at me for a moment and then grimaced.

"I promise," he whispered. "As soon as I see that it's going past your hands, I will take my wand away."

I nodded, swallowing hard. I stood and moved to the other side of the room.

"How far away should I stand?"

He told me to come a bit closer and then raised his wand. His face was stark white as he cast the first spell.

__

"Rictusempra," he almost whispered. The spell soared out of his wand and I held my hand up, stopping it in mid air. Harry smiled thinly. "I figured you would be able to stop that one."

"How do I get rid of them?" I asked. "Once I drop my hands, it will hit me."

"Can't you deflect it?"

I frowned at him, not understanding.

"I mean send it in a different direction? Aim it toward something else."

"Like this?" I asked, tilting my hand slightly to the left. The spell soared past and struck the water pitcher. The pitcher shattered, spraying water and chunks of clay everywhere. "Oh, sorry about that."

Harry chuckled, repairing the jug with a wave of his wand. Then his face went serious once more and he aimed his wand at me.

He sent spells and curses and jinxes at me for at least half an hour. I was able to deflect each one of them. Harry grew more and more nervous each time he raised his wand.

"Harry, are you sure you want to do this?"

He responded by yelling _"Fernunculus!"_ in my direction. I gasped and easily deflected it. He had been trying to catch me off guard.

"Good. That's great Jules," he said encouragingly. "I think in the next couple days I'm going to cast these on you when you're not expecting them. See how your reflexes are. Is that okay?"

"Sure," I said haughtily. I was feeling slightly cocky after deflecting all of those curses. Harry swallowed nervously and raised his wand again.

"Are you ready? This is a bad one."

I nodded, my whole body tensed and ready. Harry swallowed again and then,

__

"Imperio!"

The seemingly mild Unforgivable Curse sped in my direction. I almost let it hit me so I would be able to feel how it felt, but my arms came up automatically. I had been holding them slightly tilted to quickly deflect the curses, and this one was no exception. It flew past my hand with ease.

"Amazing!" Harry marvelled, lowering his wand. "That's a pretty strong curse too!"

I smiled, still feeling very arrogant. Harry raised his wand again.

__

"Crucio!" he yelled, his face paper white. I watched the Curse explode from the end of his wand and speed in my direction. I raised my hands out in front of me. The Curse slowed, but did not stop.

In slow motion, I watched it come my way. I had tilted my hands like I'd been doing with the others, trying to deflect it past me, but it didn't go off course. It sped right toward me and with a jolt, I felt it slam into me. I screamed and screamed, dropping to the floor. Pain like I had never known spread through my body. I lay on the floor, twitching and yelling, my whole body feeling as though it might explode.

Then, as quickly as it had started, it ended. I lay still, tears streaming down my face. Harry dropped his wand on the floor, crossing quickly to my side, holding my head against his chest.

"Oh, Jules, I am so sorry," he whispered over and over. "I stopped it, but it took a second for the Curse to end. I'm so sorry."

I looked up into his eyes, trying to reassure him that I was fine, that I would be okay. I was surprised to find that he had tears in his eyes. His face was still paper white and his hands shook.

"What did you do to her? We could hear her screaming through the portrait hole."

Seamus, Dean, Colin and Ron moved in to the room. Harry didn't turn to look at them as he answered.

"I showed her the Cruciatus Curse."

"By _using_ it on her?" Ron yelled angrily. Harry didn't answer him. "Harry, have you lost your mind?"

"No," I croaked. My throat hurt from screaming. I couldn't help but think that this is what I got for being overconfident. "No, it wasn't his fault."

"How's that?" Ron demanded, moving over to us. He slipped his arm around my shoulders and helped me to my feet. He kept glaring at Harry as he led me over to sit on a bed.

"I asked him to," I lied, shooting a look in Harry's direction. He frowned at me but said nothing.

"You asked him to send a Torture Curse at you?" Seamus repeated. He looked at me like I was crazy.

"Yes. So I could learn how it felt."

Ron opened his mouth to say something, but then I noticed a light go on behind his eyes. He closed his mouth with a snap.

"Thanks for checking on me, you guys, but I'm okay, really."

Seamus and Dean weren't really convinced, but Colin was already half way through the door. Seamus followed Colin slowly, while Dean stayed.

"Are you sure you're alright?" he asked, his eyes on me.

"I'm fine, Dean."

He nodded then finally followed Seamus from the room.

"Have you lost your mind?" Ron exploded, repeating the same question he'd asked earlier. He went to the door and slammed it shut. "You could be expelled! You could go to Azkaban!"

"We had to see what I could stop," I explained, my voice still croaking. I stood shakily, moving toward the water pitcher.

"You sit," Ron commanded. He physically sat me down again before moving toward the pitcher. "Hey, there's no water in here!"

"Oh, right," I said, remembering that I'd made it explode. "I forgot."

"So what curses were you able to stop?" Ron asked quietly as he repaired one of the glasses that I had broken since Harry had repaired the water jug. "_Aqua."_

"Everything but the Cruciatus," Harry replied, watching the water pour from Ron's wand into the glass. "Where are the girls?"

"They went to show Remus and Sirius the Dome Charm."

Harry nodded as he moved toward me. He sat down across from me again and took my hand in his.

"I'm sorry, Jules."

"Harry, it's okay. Stop apologising. I'll be alright. I was sure to find out how it felt sooner or later."

"Yes, but I shouldn't have been the one that showed you what it felt like."

I shrugged.

"We'll have to try it again in a bit, when the effects have worn off," I said slowly and calmly, as though I were bringing up practice for their next Quidditch match.

"What?" Ron and Harry asked in unison.

"Practice more?" Harry demanded.

"Are you crazy?"

"No, I'm not, Ron. I saw it slow down, so I know I have some power over it. I think that if I practice it more, I will be able to completely stop it."

Harry was staring at me like I had completely lost my mind. Who knows, maybe I had, but I knew I was right.

"Please, Harry. I know I can stop it, and the stronger I am, the more likely I'll be able to stop Avada Kedavra."

Harry closed his eyes and I knew I had him. I knew he was convinced.

"NO!" Ron cried. "You can't seriously be considering this, Harry! You can't try the Cruciatus on her again! You could hurt her! You could get expelled!"

Harry shook his head.

"She's right, Ron. If she even has the remotest chance of stopping the Killing Curse, then we have to find out. If she can't stop the Cruciatus, then she definitely won't stop the Killing Curse…but if she can stop one-"

"It doesn't mean she'll be able to stop the other!" Ron growled. "Next you'll want to try Avada Kedavra on her!"

"No I won't," Harry snarled, leaping to his feet. "I will only use that curse once more, and that is on Voldemort! It was hard enough to cast it once. I will _not _use it again until I absolutely _have _to!"

He spun on his heel then, and marched out of the dormitory. I stared weakly up at Ron.

"Again?"

Ron sighed. "Yes, again. He killed Sirius' cousin last year."

"What?" I yelped. "Harry killed someone?"

"She was going to kill all of us. He had no choice. It was self defence."

I stared at the door Harry had just exited through. I couldn't believe he had really killed somebody, even if it had been in self defence.

"Harry will do anything to protect his friends, Jules. We are his family. We are the only family he's got."

I shook my head.

"I'm his family. He's got me. And that's why I want to practice blocking the Cruciatus again. To make sure I don't leave him like everyone else has. To do everything in my power to live." I turned to Ron. "Do you understand?"

He nodded quickly, his eyes shining. He crossed quickly to me and helped me to my feet.

"I'll take you to Madam Pomfrey and she can give you the potion to dull the pain. Then you can try it again." He stopped and looked at me. "But maybe you should have Remus here with you. Maybe he'll be able to help somehow."  
I shook my head. "I don't think so. I don't want Harry to get into trouble."

"Remus won't give him trouble. Harry could Charm the entire school pink and Remus wouldn't give him trouble."

I smiled at the image that floated through my mind.

"Using an Unforgivable on a fellow student isn't exactly the same thing, Ron," I told him.

"I know. I was just kidding."  
"I know."

Several students looked up as Ron helped me past. I knew I looked a mess from thrashing about on the floor, but we didn't stop to explain. I knew that everyone would know sooner or later, as Colin did appear to have a big mouth.

Madam Pomfrey did not make me explain why I had the pain remnants (her words, not mine) that were only caused by the Cruciatus Curse. She gave me a steaming hot potion that I had to hold my nose in order to be able to swallow it. She instructed me to be more careful in the future, but if need be, to come back for more potion. I found myself wondering just how much she knew of what went on in the school. Aside from Albus, she seemed to be the most informed.

I thanked her for the potion and Ron and I headed back to Gryffindor Tower. We stopped short when we came around the corner to find two extremely furious Defence Against the Dark Arts professors.

"What is this we hear that Harry used an Unforgivable on you?" Remus snarled.

"And where is he?" Sirius demanded, his blue eyes gleaming. "I'm going to give him so many detentions, he'll have died of old age before he's finished them!"

Ron and I stared at each other. Then, as one, we each spun on our heels and ran in the opposite direction.

Hey everyone. I know it's been a long while, but I've been out of town for the last three weeks and before that, I had a lot of trouble with this chapter. Couldn't get it to come out right. I'm still not happy about it, but I don't think I'll ever be happy with a chapter, lol. I hope you enjoy it anyway.


	22. Daydream Visitor

All characters depicted here belong to JK Rowling. I own nothing but the pleasure of writing this particular story.

****

Daydream Visitor

We didn't get too far before we both felt our legs magically lock together. We both yelled as we pitched forward, our hands outstretched. I let out a cry as my wrist crumpled under me.

"That's cheating!" I cried, rolling on to my side, holding my wrist against my chest. Ron sat up, his face slightly pink.

"What are you attacking us for? We were both innocent."

Neither Sirius nor Remus said anything as they released us from the Leg Locker Curse. Remus took hold of my arm while Sirius took Ron's. They jerked us to our feet and dragged us toward the Defence classroom. I glared at Remus as he pushed me through the door ahead of him.

"Stop jerking me around!" I yelled, yanking my arm out of his. My hand came up and I slapped him across the face before I could stop myself. "Oh! I'm sorry, Remus!"

Remus stared at me silently for a moment, his hand against his cheek where I had struck him. His face broke into a sheepish smile.

"I didn't mean to yank you around, Jules," he said softly, moving toward me and gathering me in his arms. "I just…"

"Lost your mind when we heard about Harry using the Cruciatus Curse on you," Sirius supplied.

"We were really worried, Jules," Hermione said softly, moving over to us. I remembered Ron saying she and Ginny had come to show them the Dome Charm.

"How did you even find out so soon?" Ron demanded, rubbing his arm where Sirius' fingers had dug in.

"Colin came running here as soon as he left the boys' dormitory," Ginny replied.

Ron made a face and muttered something under his breath. We didn't ask him to repeat it, as we were all thinking the same thing.

"So why did Harry use an Unforgivable on you?" Hermione asked.

"He used two, actually," I answered, sitting on one of the tables, absently rubbing my sore wrist. "He tried the Imperious Curse first and I was able to deflect it. Then he tried the Cruciatus Curse and, while I was able to slow it, I wasn't able to stop it and it hit me."

"He was testing you?" Sirius demanded. "What were you able to stop?"

"Basically everything. I mainly deflected everything away from me. Cruciatus was the only thing I wasn't able to stop."

"Which means you won't be able to stop Avada Kedavra," Hermione finished bitterly.

"I don't know," I replied honestly. "Cruciatus slowed. I think next time I will be able to stop it."

Remus, Sirius, Hermione and Ginny stared at me, shock etched in each of their features.

"Next time?" Remus repeated. "What next time? There isn't going to be a next time!"

"Yes, there is."

Remus stood there, glaring at me, his eyes hardening. I lifted my chin, saying nothing.

"Why do you want to go through it again?" Ginny asked.

"Because if I can stop it - "

"But you can't! You tried, and you can't!"

"It slowed. I think I can if I try again!"

"She's right," a voice from behind us said. I turned to find that Harry had joined us. "It slowed, I saw it."

I glanced at Remus and Sirius and thought for sure one of them was going to curse him or something. The fury on their faces was alarming. I stood angrily.

"Look, I am more than old enough to make my own decisions. Harry said he wanted to practice and I agreed. He is not to blame. Nobody is, really. We did need to know what I can stop and what I can't. Knowing what I can do helps us. Now stop acting like this!"

Remus opened his mouth to say something, but I cut him off. "No! I said that's enough! You treated Ron and I like criminals; you humiliated us in front of other students, you hurt me and you could have hurt Ron. Maybe what Harry did was wrong, but he did it for the right reason! The more we know about _everything_, the better off we are!"

I stopped then, breathing heavily. Each of them was staring at me as though I had sprouted a second head and I knew it was because I didn't usually start yelling like that.

"We hurt you?" Sirius repeated after a moment.

"Yes you did," I replied angrily. "Your tactics, in my opinion, are no better than those of Professor Snape."

With that, I turned on my heel and marched out the door.

I didn't stop walking until I found myself at the edge of the lake. The giant squid was lazily sunning himself, swishing across the surface of the lake. I sat on the grass, leaning against a beech tree and watched him for a while. It was a gorgeous, sunny day and I wished that I hadn't spent most of it inside, deflecting curses. I replayed getting struck by the Cruciatus Curse over in my mind.

I had never in my life felt anything like it. Even when Noah had beaten me up so bad, it hadn't hurt as much as the Curse had. I could understand why Hermione's father had died to get away from it. It made my heart ache to think of somebody having to endure that. It made me angry to think that somebody would purposely cast that Curse on somebody with the intent of hurting them.

I lay there, in the grass, under the tree for hours. The warm sun beat down on me, making it hard for me to keep my eyes open.

"Julianne," someone whispered. I opened my eyes and looked up at Harry. No, not Harry. This man was older and he had hazel eyes, not green. There was also no lightning bolt shaped scar on his forehead. Other than that, he was the spitting image of Harry.

"Who are you?" I asked, sitting up. Why did he look so much like Harry? Was he playing a trick on me?

"I have a message for you, Julianne," the man answered. He smiled kindly at me. "We can help you."

I stared at him, my eyebrows raised. "Is that the message? What does that mean?"

"When you need us," he repeated. "We can help you."

He backed up slowly and seemed to fade slightly around the edges. I blinked, trying to clear my eyes. It had to be the sun behind him that made him look faded.

"What do you mean by that? Please, please tell me!"

"We can help you," he repeated again, seeming to fade even more. "We can help you."

"No, come back!" I cried, struggling to stand. Why couldn't I stand? "Come back, please! Tell me what you mean!"

"We can help you," he said one last time. Then he was gone.

"Come back!" I screamed.

"Wake up, Jules!"

I opened my eyes, gasping, my arms flailing as though I was warding off an attack. I felt my hand connect with something, and that finally brought me awake. Harry and Remus were both crouched over me, concern evident in both of their eyes. I could see that, once again, I had struck Remus.

"I'm sorry, Remus!" I cried. "I didn't do that one on purpose!"

I looked around and realised that the sun had set. How long ago, I couldn't be certain.

"I fell asleep!" I yelped, sitting up quickly. "I had a dream!"

"Another premonition?" Harry asked, his face paling.

"Maybe…maybe. A man, who looked just like you, Harry. But he had hazel eyes. He said- "

"You had a dream about a man with hazel eyes?" Harry repeated, cutting me off.

"Who looked just like Harry?" Remus asked.

"Yes," I answered. "And he said - "

"How long ago did you fall asleep?" Harry asked, again cutting me off.

"The sun was still up. The man said - "

"Is he the only one you saw?" Remus demanded.

"Be quiet!" I cried, taking both of them by surprise. "Sorry. He told me that when we need him, they can help us."

"What does that mean?" Harry asked.

"I don't know! I asked and asked, but he wouldn't answer me! He just kept repeating himself!"

I jumped to my feet, fixing my robes as I stood.

"I need to go get Hermione. She can help me in the library!"

"Wait, Jules!" Remus said, grabbing hold of my arm as I turned to go. "Wait a minute. Let us get our heads around this. You saw a man who looked like Harry with hazel eyes?"

Was he being thick on purpose?

"Yes, I told you that," I agreed, again turning to go. Remus held fast to my arm.

"And he said 'We can help you'?" Harry asked.

"Yes," I answered impatiently. "Why? Do you know him? Is he playing a trick on me?"

Harry and Remus looked at each other. Both had gone slightly pale.

"No," Harry answered quietly. "No, I don't think he's playing a trick on you."

"Who…? How do you-?"

"The man you saw was James," Remus replied softly. His eyes were sad as he told me this. "James Potter. Your uncle. Harry's father."

I stared at the both of them. They seemed to agree to this.

"James?" I repeated. "Why would James visit me to say that they could help us? Who is 'we' anyway?"

"I assume Lily, Harry's mother," Remus answered. "Why wouldn't James visit you? I'm surprised you haven't dreamt of him before, really."

"And him saying they can help…Well, that's true, Jules," Harry said. "They can help. They helped me before."

"Physically?"

"No, not physically." Harry quickly told me about the night Voldemort had come back. About his friend being killed. About his parents coming out of the wand tip. I shivered as I felt a chill go up my back.

"Maybe there's a spell in one of the books that could help us," I said slowly as we walked up the stairs to the school.

"There might be," Remus agreed. "But I think you need a good night's sleep, Jules. You can search tomorrow, but soon the after effects of the Cruciatus will catch up with you."

"I had a potion," I protested.

"That doesn't matter," Remus said. "You're going to get the shakes like you wouldn't believe. It's like after you've gone running and haven't cooled down properly, you get the shakes and you get muscle cramps. You'll get them from your muscles being so taut."

"He's right, Jules," Harry agreed. "Let's go for dinner, then you can get to bed."

I sighed softly then agreed as we entered the Great Hall. I could feel eyes on me and looked around. Snape, from the head table, was watching us enter. Watching _me _enter. I returned his gaze frostily and turned to the Gryffindor Table.

"Straight to bed after dinner, Jules," Remus said warningly. "I mean it."

I stuck my tongue out at him and he grinned at me.

"Don't make me have to give you detention," he teased quietly. I grinned back and continued on to the table.

"You two are awfully pale," Dean commented as we sat down. Hermione shot a glare at him that he didn't notice.

"I'm tired," I answered. "And Harry isn't feeling well."

Dean nodded, turning back to his meal. As soon as his attention was elsewhere, Hermione leaned toward me.

"What happened to you?" she asked. "We didn't expect you to be gone for long, but you never came back!"

"I went to the lake and I fell asleep against a tree."

Ginny smiled at me. "Early to bed tonight, I'd say."

I rolled my eyes. "You'd better believe it."

I was about to tell them about my dream of James Potter when I caught Harry's eye. Neville was sitting not too far away and seemed to be listening. Harry shook his head very slightly. I changed the subject to the Quidditch match.

"Don't tell them just yet," Harry whispered after dinner was finished. "Let's figure out what it means first. No need to get their hopes up."

"Okay," I agreed.

At the Gryffindor common room, I bade them all goodnight and hurried up to my dormitory. I found myself hoping that James would come back and visit me again. Maybe he would tell me more this time.

"'We can help you'," I whispered to myself, tapping my quill against my parchment lightly. "'We can help you'."

"Jules, be quiet!" Harry whispered at me. "You're distracting me!"

I glared at him and continued to tap my quill against my parchment. Harry finally reached over and grabbed it out of my hand.

"Is there a problem?" Sirius asked, moving toward our tables just as I was about to use a Summoning Charm on my quill. He frowned down at my parchment. The words 'We can help you' were written on it over and over, covering the whole sheet. "Julianne, this doesn't look like Defence Against the Dark Arts."

Ron glanced over at my parchment and frowned. "What does that mean?" he asked.

"Ron, work," Sirius told him. "Jules, may I see you in my office?"

My eyes widened slightly. I stared up at Sirius and finally nodded. I gathered up my parchment and grabbed my quill from Harry and then followed Sirius into the office.

"Am I in trouble?" I asked before he could say anything. "I swear, Sirius, my work will be done for the next class."

Sirius pointed at the chair in front of the desk. I sat in it, and he sat right on the desk.

"That's not what I wanted to talk to you about, Jules. You need to stop obsessing about James visiting you. I'm sure you will figure it out sooner or later, but if you keep pushing for the answer, it will take longer to come. Put it out of your mind. Forget about it. It will come to you out of the blue."

"But, Sirius-"

"No buts, Jules. It has been four days. You aren't paying attention in class and Professor McGonagall had to give you a warning yesterday." He frowned at me. "I was told not to tell you this, but Remus didn't have a good night last night. One of his worst in a long time, actually."

I stood, staring at Sirius wildly.

"What?" I demanded. "Is he hurt? Did he hurt himself? Did he get out? Am I the reason he had a bad night?"

"No, not directly," Sirius answered. "He has been worrying about you since you had that dream about James. He's worried that you're going to drive yourself crazy because of it."   
"That won't happen!" I cried. Sirius raised an eyebrow at me and pointed at my parchment.

I ignored him. "Is Remus hurt badly?"

"He will probably be in the hospital wing for the weekend," Sirius answered. I closed my eyes, fighting back tears. Sirius sighed and gave me a quick hug. "Go and see him," he added softly. "He'll be angry at me, but tell him I say to stuff it."

I laughed against his shoulder, pulling away. "Are you sure?" I asked.

"Just make sure you have your assignment done by Monday. Go."

"Thanks Sirius," I whispered, hugging him tightly. I hurried out of the office and went straight out the door. I could feel everyone's eyes one me, but didn't slow one bit.

It wasn't until I reached the door of the hospital wing that I realised I had forgotten my bag, but I figured Harry or one of the others would grab that for me. I entered, looking around for some sign of Madam Pomfrey.

"Back again, Miss Wallace?" she asked. "Need more potion?"

"No, thank you, Madam Pomfrey," I replied. "I had hoped to see Professor Lupin."

Madam Pomfrey didn't bat an eye. "Of course you may, my dear. He's just beyond that curtain there. I think he's been expecting you."

I smiled when I heard Remus say, "Poppy!" Madam Pomfrey winked at me. I thanked her and went in to see Remus. He smiled weakly at me. I realised I was staring at him and forced myself to move. I made sure the curtains were hiding us and then moved swiftly to the bed, climbing in beside Remus.

"Are you okay, Remus?" I asked, gently touching the fresh bruise around his eye. I jerked my fingers back when he winced. He took my hand in his.

"I'm okay now," he whispered, looking at me. He reached up and brushed a tear away. "Why are you crying?"

I looked away from his eyes for a moment. I saw that he was in his pyjamas and that there were scratches all over his neck and collarbone as well.

"I'm so sorry, Remus," I said softly. "I didn't mean to make you have a bad night."   
"Oh, Jules," he said quietly, hugging me to him gently. "You didn't make me have a bad night. It was a weak potion as well as I have been worried about many things lately. Don't blame yourself."

I said nothing in reply and rested my head on his shoulder. My hand came to rest on his chest. I watched it rise and fall with his even breathing.

"Does Madam Pomfrey know about us?" I asked softly. "She knew you were waiting for me to come."

"Yes," he replied. "I told her a while ago. I know Albus wants it kept a secret, but I know we can trust Madam Pomfrey."

I nodded against his shoulder. Remus had known Madam Pomfrey since he was eleven years old, so I figured he would know best.

Remus and I lay there for a while, just talking. I didn't tell him about Professor McGonagall giving me a warning for not paying attention in class the day before. I didn't tell him about Sirius having to speak to me about not paying attention. Though I was certain he already knew about all of it.

I'd been there for about half an hour when we heard someone coming our way. We both stopped talking in order to listen. I saw a hand wrap around the curtain and saw the curtain start to move. I gasped and tried to roll out of the bed, but found that my legs were caught in the blanket. I let out a soft cry and, out of desperation, threw my hand up, palm out, in the direction of the moving curtain. It stopped moving. Remus quickly helped me out of the blanket.

"Jules, it's Harry! Let me in!"

I dropped my hand. Harry slid the curtain back and turned to glare at me. I was sitting innocently in one of the chairs.

"I knew it was you," I said cheerfully. "I was just playing."

Harry rolled his eyes and moved in further. Sirius came behind him, followed by Ron and Hermione.

"Sure you did," Sirius replied dryly. He grinned at Remus. "Lying with you, was she?"

Remus flushed as he grinned back at Sirius. "Quiet, Padfoot."

"How are you, Remus?" Ron asked, settling into the chair next to me. "Sirius told us you had a rough night."

Remus glared at Sirius. Sirius grinned sheepishly and shrugged.

"They forced it out of me, Moony, I swear."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Because asking where Jules went in such a hurry was such a forceful question."

"The way you asked it was."

Hermione shook her head and turned back to Remus, quietly asking him if he was alright.

"I'm fine, Hermione," he answered. "I'll be out of here by tomorrow morning. Good as new."

"Is there anything we can do?" she asked. Remus frowned.

"Do?"

"Bring you anything…I don't know, something."

Remus shook his head. "No, Hermione. Just keep searching the library and brainstorming. We're close, I can feel it."

"Professor Black?"

We turned to find Neville Longbottom standing at the curtain. He seemed embarrassed about something and was twirling his wand in his hands nervously.

"Sorry to interrupt, but Seamus told me he saw you come in here. I missed class today, as I'm sure you noticed. Can I speak with you about the homework?"

Sirius nodded and stood quickly, exiting to talk to Neville.

"I wonder why he was so nervous," Ginny said aloud. The rest of us shrugged. A thought struck me and I looked at Harry's wand.

"His wand looks a lot like yours, Harry," I commented. "I noticed that when he was playing with it."

Harry nodded. "It's the same, actually. Holly and phoenix feather. Except his wand is a female phoenix, whereas mine is from Fawkes, just like-" Harry stood suddenly, his eyes wide. "Connect the wands. That's it!"

"What?" Hermione demanded, staring at Harry as though he'd grown a second head. Sirius and Neville came around the curtain, drawn by Harry's shout.

"Everything okay?" Sirius asked. Neville quietly excused himself and left the area.

"Maybe!" Harry cried, grabbing his wand and rushing past the rest of us. "Just maybe! I'll be back!"

"Connect the wands?" I asked after he'd gone. "What does that mean?"

Ron, Hermione and Ginny shrugged. Remus looked like he had an idea about what Harry had meant, but Sirius had gone white.

"Padfoot?" Remus sat up slowly. "Are you alright?"

"Connect the wands."

I looked at Hermione, who shrugged.

"That's what Harry said," Remus said, as though speaking to a child. "He does not mean-"

"He does."

Remus shook his head. "How? How will he do that?"

"With the Saviour." Sirius turned to me. One by one, the rest of them turned as well.

"Will someone explain what's going on please?" I demanded.

"Harry's wand and Lord Voldemort's wand share a core. A phoenix feather," Sirius said slowly. "The phoenix that gave Harry's feather gave one other feather. It resides in Voldemort's wand."

I scoffed. "How do you know that?"

"Because Mr Ollivander remembers his wands. He remembered Harry's wand and Voldemort's wand. The phoenix that gave those feathers is Fawkes."

"Dumbledore's bird?" Ron said incredulously.

"One and the same."

"Then they not only share a core," Hermione said. "They are brother wands." A light came into her eyes and she stood. "_That _is why the wands connected. _That _is how he got away!"

"Priori Incantatem," Remus agreed.

"I get it," Ron said, nodding. "That's why his mum and dad came out of the wand tip. It didn't make sense before. I never understood how the wands connected."

"A wand will not battle its brother unless forced," Sirius concurred.

"Okay, wait!" I cried, interrupting. "Just a minute. That doesn't explain what 'Connect the wands' means! That doesn't explain what my part in this is!"

Sirius picked up Remus' wand from the bedside table. He held it in his hand next to his own wand.

"You have to get Voldemort's wand."

I rolled my eyes. "That's part of the plan."

"Yes. And you have to use it, as well as your own power."

I didn't say anything, merely stared at him.

"You," he said, putting the wand tips together, "have to connect the wands."

"NO!" Hermione yelped, leaping to her feet once more. "No, they can't do that!"

"Why?" Ron asked, confused.

"It's much too dangerous! It could backfire; it could-"   
"Kill them."

Remus had spoken very softly. We looked at him, but he looked at his hands. "It could kill them. And it could kill all of us as well."

"How?"

"A wand is not meant to be connected with another wand in that way. It happened once before and the backfire was devastating. Thousands died. A city was destroyed."

"But they never found proof that that was caused by the wands connecting," Ginny argued, frowning. "War was being fought all throughout that city. That city being destroyed could have been caused by either Muggles or wizards. Or both."

"That's true," Sirius agreed. "That's very true indeed."

"What would us connecting the wands do?" I asked slowly. "If it didn't backfire."

"It would connect Harry's power and Voldemort's power. And it would connect your power. The power of Godric Gryffindor."

"Times two," I said with a smile.   
"Exactly."

"And if it doesn't work?"

Remus smiled bitterly. "Then he wins. And the wizarding world as we know it will be gone forever."

Hey everyone. I am sorry about this chapter. I have been stuck on it for so long, and I just can't get it right. But here it is, I hope you enjoy it.


	23. The Cruciatus

All characters depicted here belong to JK Rowling. I own nothing but the pleasure of writing this particular story.

****

The Cruciatus

"Well it just has to work then, that's all there is to it," Hermione said determinedly. There was a fire in her eyes that we hadn't seen in ages. "That's all there is to it," she said again.

"Yes," Sirius agreed, handing Remus back his wand. He turned to me. "You've learned the Disarming Spell?"

I nodded. "Harry and Hermione taught it to me ages ago."

"Sirius."

Sirius raised his eyebrows at Hermione. She bit her lip and looked down at the floor.

"Someone will have to teach her Avada Kedavra." Hermione looked up, her eyes blazing again. "Someone will have to teach us all."

Sirius nodded silently, his eyes sad. Remus sighed.

"I had hoped it would never come to this," he muttered. "I had hoped you would never know how it feels to cast Avada Kedavra. Any of you."

"Harry knows it," I said softly. "Ron told me that he'd killed somebody."

Sirius nodded. "He did."

"But in self defence."

"Well, yes," Sirius agreed hesitantly. "Partly it was self defence."

"Partly?"

"Yes. Part self defence, part revenge."

"What?"

"She killed me."

I nodded, understanding a little more. She must have been the reason Sirius had gone beyond the veil.

"I wonder - " Ron began.

"Okay, all of you out. Professor Lupin needs to rest."

We looked up as Madam Pomfrey came around the curtain. In her hand was a steaming goblet. Remus groaned at the sight of it.

"That's enough from you, Remus Lupin," Madam Pomfrey said sternly, setting the goblet down beside him. Remus made a face at the rest of us as we started to stand. I waved good bye to him as we exited.

"You too, Sirius," Madam Pomfrey said. Sirius hadn't moved as we'd left. I saw him glower at her, but stand and follow us out the door.

"We'll be back after dinner, Moony," he said over his shoulder. Remus nodded at him as he picked up the goblet.

"Is it hard to learn to Heal?" I asked suddenly after we'd walked for a while. Everyone turned to look at me, causing me to flush slightly. "Well, is it?"

"Yes," Sirius answered. "The basic Healing Charms, for cuts and scratches, are relatively easy to learn and are taught in the sixth year. Madam Pomfrey had to study for years to learn what she knows, and she's not a Healer. It's not unlike your Muggle doctors. It is years of learning. Healing involves a lot of Potions work."

"Okay."

We walked for a bit longer in silence. I thought about what Sirius had told me.

"For me to learn how to Heal Remus, what would I need to know?"

Sirius stopped walking so he could turn and look at me. He studied me for a moment before answering.

"Remus is pretty easy," he said slowly, rubbing his jaw thoughtfully. "Usually his injuries are scratches and bruises. Sometimes his injuries are more severe, like today. I know how to heal those."

He gave my shoulder a squeeze and lowered his voice.

"You're not alone here, Jules," he said softly. "We, that is James and I, learned early on how to heal his more severe injuries. I can teach you the potions and the spells you need to know, if you like."  
I nodded quickly. "Yes, I want to learn them. I hate to see him like that; I hate seeing him when he doesn't fit completely in his skin and when his eyes are still yellow."

"We all do, Jules," Hermione said softly.

"I wish there were a cure," I continued.

"They've been searching for one for years."

"Hundreds of years," Ginny corrected.

"Did Madam Pomfrey kick you out?"

We all turned to find Harry behind us. His cheeks were flushed and his eyes had a slight gleam to them.

"Yeah," I answered. "Where did you go?"

"Can't say. Come with me."

I glanced at Sirius before following Harry. He led us down to the Entrance Hall and straight outside. It had started to rain while we'd been in with Remus, but Harry didn't seem to notice it. He led us toward the gates.

"Where are we going, Harry?" Ginny cried over to sound of the pouring rain.

"You'll see!"

He turned toward the hut at the edge of the forest. I found myself lagging behind, looking toward the lake at the beech tree I'd fallen asleep against. Looking for a sign of James Potter. Sirius must have noticed this, for he took my shoulders in his hands and led me toward the hut.

Harry opened the door and we followed him inside. Fang, the dog I had met the night I'd seen the unicorn, went crazy at the sight of us. Harry lit the lamps and pointed his wand at the cold fireplace. Within moments, a merry fire crackled there.

"That's a handy Charm," I murmured as Ginny slowly took a teapot out of the cupboard. She turned to us and smiled sadly.

"Everything's covered in dust."

I glanced at everyone else and found that they were nodding in agreement. Hermione looked around the small room, her eyes flat.

"At least we got one person back. We were able to save one," Ron said dully.

"I'm sorry to bring you here, but it's quiet here and away from others so we can talk in private. We can _not_ dwell on Hagrid right now," Harry said quietly.

"What about Extendable Ears?" Ginny asked.

"We'll seal the doors and place Imperturbable Charms on them."

He opened the door and whistled for Fang. The dog came bounding back inside. Of course, he did like every other dog, and shook as soon as he was out of the rain. I laughed as water splashed everywhere.

"Okay," Harry said, sealing the door and making sure the Imperturbable Charm was in place. He indicated for us to sit around the table as he got out cups for the tea Ginny had made.

"So you had an epiphany," I said bluntly, "and you took off. Where did you go?"

Sirius smiled to himself as he blew gently on his tea. Harry raised his eyebrows at me.

"I went to see Madam Pince."

"Not Dumbledore?" Hermione asked, surprised.

"No. I asked Madam Pince to pull out the books I needed."

He pulled two from under his robes. One was called _A History of Wands _and the other was entitled _Wands: Predictable or Unpredictable?_.

"What is this one?" I asked, picking up the second book. Hermione leaned over as I flipped it open. There were illustrations of what happened when wands backfired. We both gaped at a picture of a wizard whose wand had backfired and had turned his hands into two large tortoises, but their shells were heavily jewelled, rather than regular tortoise shell.

"Fire crabs," Hermione breathed.

"Are they dangerous?" I asked, staring at the tortoises.

"They're listed as a level three by the Ministry of Magic."

"What does that mean?" I pressed.

"They can be dangerous, but a competent wizard should be able to deal with them."

"I see."

"They shoot flames from their rear end when they're attacked," Ginny added with a grin. "Hagrid bred them with Manticores in our fourth year," Ron said, also smiling. "Blast-Ended Skrewts, he called them."

"Sounds fun," I said.

Harry chuckled, taking a sip from his tea. He shook his head and leaned forward.

"Anyway," he said, taking the first book and flipping it open. The picture inside was of a large city, obviously at war. There were parts of the city that were completely destroyed, and other parts were aflame. We all stared at it. "This is what happened the last time two wands were connected."

"Oh my," I whispered.

"But they never proved this was caused by the wands connecting," Harry said quickly, unknowingly repeating what Ginny had said earlier.

"Still," Sirius said softly, "it's a little scary. Are you sure you want to try this?"

"What choice is there?"

Sirius gritted his teeth, but said nothing.

"We have to try, Sirius."

"But this could kill you."

Harry smiled. "I know. But if he dies too, then it's worth it."

I reached forward and gave Harry's hand a squeeze. He returned the pressure.

"Couldn't we try to think of something else?" Hermione asked, almost desperately.

"Of course we will," Ron snapped. "This is last resort."

My eyes met Harry's. We both knew that it wasn't a last resort. We both knew that, in order to win, we had to do what Harry had said. We had to connect the wands.

"We have to practice the Curses again," I said to Harry later, after we'd gone up to the Great Hall for dinner. Harry's jaw clenched but he nodded reluctantly.

"You get Sirius to supervise," Hermione muttered angrily. I glanced at her. I hadn't even been aware she'd heard me.

"No," Harry disagreed. "Just Jules and I. We'll go to the Room of Requirement so we won't be disturbed."

"What's that?" I asked.

Harry quickly explained it to me. I agreed that it would work for what we needed.

"No!" Hermione insisted. "I think Sirius should be there."

Harry was about to argue with her when Seamus and Dean sat down next to us and started talking about Quidditch and homework. Harry shot a look in Hermione's direction, which she returned with equal ferocity.

"Get him to supervise!" she hissed as we left the Great Hall.

"No, Hermione!" Harry growled. They started up the staircase toward Gryffindor Tower.

"Where are you going?" Ron asked. Both turned, still arguing.

"What d'you mean?" Harry snapped. "We're going to the common room."

"We told Remus we'd come back and visit, remember?" Ginny answered. Both had apparently forgotten and moved back down the stairs, grinning sheepishly.

"We were - "

"Too busy arguing," Sirius supplied, coming out of the Great Hall and joining us. "I could tell that even from the head table."

We moved in the direction of the hospital wing, Harry and Hermione sending dirty looks at each other as we walked. Finally, Sirius frowned at both of them.

"What is going on?" he demanded. "What are you arguing about so ferociously?"

Hermione opened her mouth but then closed it with a snap. She shook her head.

"Harry's being a prat is all, Sirius," she answered stiffly. "He doesn't agree with me that he just might be wrong about something!"

"I didn't say I wasn't wrong, Hermione!" Harry exploded. "It is none of your business, so butt out!"

"Whoa!" Sirius roared, grabbing the two of them and pulling them into an empty classroom. The rest of us followed.

"What is going on?" Ginny demanded. I sighed.

"Harry and I are going to practice the Cruciatus again," I answered, annoyed. "Hermione thinks we should have supervision, Harry disagrees."

Harry turned to me, his eyes nearly shooting daggers. I rolled my eyes.

"They're not stupid, Harry. I'm sure they would have figured it out."

I looked up at Sirius. His jaw was clenched, but he said nothing.

"Why don't you want supervision?" Ron asked. "I agree with Hermione that you should have Sirius there."

Harry shrugged. "Why don't you all come along then?" he snapped angrily. "If she doesn't stop it, you'll get to see her writhing on the floor in pain, screaming her head off. Sure, come along, all of you. It'll be a _great _show!"

We all stared at Harry. His eyes were burning with his anger. But there was pain there as well. Nobody spoke for a moment, unsure of what to say. Harry looked away from us, embarrassed at his outburst.

"It's alright, Harry," Sirius finally said softly. "It's okay. We won't come. I understand where you're coming from."

Harry nodded shortly. Sirius asked Ron, Hermione and Ginny to give us a moment. They left.

"You don't have to do this," Sirius murmured.

"Yes we do," Harry replied. "We have to know." He looked up at Sirius, his eyes still full of pain. "Would you supervise us? Maybe, if she can't stop it, you could remove it quicker. Maybe it would be better if you sent the Curse at her, too."

Sirius raised his eyebrows. "You want me to send the Curse at her?"

"Well, if she can stop mine. Only if. We'll see if she can stop yours as well."  
"How is it different?" I asked.

"Sirius is more powerful than I," Harry answered. Sirius shook his head, but Harry ignored him. "He also has experience with the Curse."

"I'll supervise, Harry," Sirius agreed. "We'll see about the Curse."

Harry nodded and we left the classroom, moving once more in the direction of the hospital wing.

I pushed the door open, expecting to see Madam Pomfrey as usual. I looked around, but she was no where to be seen.

"She's probably gone down to the Great Hall for dinner," Sirius explained when I wondered aloud where she could be. He led the way toward the curtain that hid Remus. "Moony, we're back."

He pulled the curtain back and frowned. We followed and found that Remus' bed was empty.

"Where on earth has he gone?" I wondered. Sirius had pulled his wand and was searching the room, his face tense.

"Oh, he's in there," he said with a laugh, his face relaxing. He pointed in the direction of the bathroom, putting his wand away as he did so. Almost on cue, Remus opened the door and limped back to his bed. He looked slightly dishevelled.

"Hello," he said politely when he saw us. His eyes rested on me. "Wh - er, what are you doing here?"

"We said we'd come back to visit, remember?" Sirius answered, frowning once more.

"Oh, right," he replied, shaking his head. "Madam Pomfrey gave me a potion and it has me a bit mixed up."

Sirius raised his eyebrows.

"She doesn't usually give you potions that mess with your head."

Remus frowned at Sirius. "It's a new potion. She thought it might heal me faster, but all it did was make me ill. Don't worry, Padfoot, I said it was alright for her to use it on me."

Sirius relaxed slightly, but watched closely as Remus climbed back into bed. Remus smiled at each of us in turn, his eyes lingering on me.

"So what have you found out?" he asked.

"That connecting the wands might destroy the castle and all the people in it," Ginny answered. Remus frowned again, his eyes confused. "Remember, Remus? Harry left this morning?"

"Oh, right," Remus replied, nodding. "Of course."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Sirius wrap his hand around his wand once more. I looked up at him and he smiled at me, not taking his hand away from his wand. He seemed edgier than usual.

"Where has Madam Pomfrey gone, Moony?" he asked.

"Dinner," was Remus' reply. He didn't even glance at Sirius as he said this. I found that slightly odd, but then I figured it had something to do with the potion he had taken. "What are your plans for this evening?"

"Testing - "

"Studying for our NEWTs," Hermione interrupted, glancing at Harry. "Do you figure you'll be out tomorrow?"

"Oh, no," Remus answered. "I'll be in here probably till the day after. Madam Pomfrey insists," he added, rolling his eyes.

"Well, we will let you get some rest then," Sirius said. "If the potion is making you ill, you should sleep. Good night, Moony."

"Good night, everyone," Remus replied, settling back against his pillow. He caught my hand as I went past. "No goodnight kiss?"

I frowned at him, glancing around the hospital wing. Seeing no one, I leaned down and kissed him.

"Good night, Remus," I whispered as I straightened, trying to discreetly wipe around my mouth. I found that very odd, since Remus didn't usually slobber all over me when he kissed me. Again, I wrote it off as a side effect from the potion.

"Good night."

I smiled at him and followed the others from the room. Ron, Hermione and Ginny said good night to us and went in the direction of Gryffindor Tower. I followed Harry and Sirius toward the Room of Requirement.

"Remus seemed…odd," Harry said slowly. Sirius and I agreed with him. Sirius stopped suddenly.

"You two go on ahead. I'll meet you there," he said, turning on his heel. He took off in the other direction.

"Where's he going?" I wondered aloud.

"My guess would be to check the Map," Harry answered, his eyes scanning the walls. "Here we are."

I glanced around but found nothing but an old tapestry on the wall.

"Where are we?"

"At the Room of Requirement."

"Is it behind the tapestry?"

"No. Follow me, don't think of anything," he said as he started to walk again. I tried to keep my mind blank as he walked to the end of the hall and turned around.

"What are we doing?" I whispered as he turned again. He said nothing, but continued to the other end of the hall and turned once more. I let out a gasp as a door appeared on the wall opposite the tapestry.

"This castle is awesome," I said with a laugh. Harry grinned as he twisted the doorknob, letting us into a large room that was filled with books and had enormous fat cushions on the floor. I moved inside, looking at the seemingly full potion bottles on the shelves.

"Healing potions," Harry said, looking closer. He looked at the books. "Books on Healing, books about Curses; books about anything we'd need, really."

"This room is amazing," I said. "How come it's hidden though? Why hide this?"

"The room changes," Harry says, explaining how the room would become whatever you needed at the time. He had me laughing as he told me that it had once been a supply closet for Fred and George Weasley when they had been hiding from Mr Filch.

"I guess the cushions are for when I fall," I said slowly, taking another look around. There was a small cot that looked like it had come straight from the hospital wing. "Should we wait for Sirius?"

Harry shrugged, pulling out his wand. "We might as well get you warmed up."

I nodded as he threw the Tickling Hex at me without warning. I deflected it easily.

"Good, still able to deflect those," he said, quickly firing another Hex at me, which I also deflected.

We did that for a few minutes before either of us realised that Sirius was standing there watching. Harry finally noticed and dropped his wand hand.

"She has good reflexes," he noted, drawing his wand. "I wonder if she could block two people."

"Was it Remus?" Harry asked. Sirius nodded.

"The Map shows that it's him, so I guess he was telling the truth, that it was merely a potion. I've still never seen him react to a potion like that, but it might be a really strong one."

Harry and I agreed as Sirius pushed his sleeves back. He didn't give any warning, just fired a Jelly Legs Jinx my way. I caught it as Harry sent a Bat Bogey Hex at me.

We continued in a while before Harry suddenly sent the Imperious Curse at me, as Sirius fired another spell. I deflected Sirius' curse just in time to block the Imperious Curse. I carefully sent it away from me.

"Very good!" Sirius enthused, his eyes glowing. He walked to one of the tables and brought over three butterbeers from a tray that I could have sworn hadn't been there a moment before. I stared at it, then at him.

"How'd you - ?"

"This room gives you whatever you need," he replied, opening my bottle for me. "I needed a butterbeer."

I laughed, taking it from him and taking a drink. I sat down on one of the cushions as he handed a butterbeer to Harry. I lifted my sweaty hair off the back of my neck and pressed the bottle to my throat. The cold bottle felt wonderful. It was hard work, deflecting those curses.

"Are you sure you want us to use the Cruciatus Curse on you?" Sirius asked, looking down at me.

"No, of course I don't want you to," I answered. "But if we don't practice, I'll never be able to stop it."

Sirius frowned, setting his butterbeer down.

"I might not be able to lift it any faster than Harry was able to."

I shook my head. "It's alright. I'm prepared for the pain this time."

Harry shook his head as well. "You're never prepared for the pain."

I took another drink from my butterbeer, savouring the flavour. I didn't answer. I looked up when Harry stood.

"I guess we might as well get it over with," he said reluctantly. Sirius set down his bottle as well, helping me to my feet.

"Who is sending it at me?"

"I am," Harry replied. "If you stop it, Sirius will send his at you."

I nodded, bracing myself. Harry raised his wand, his face pale once more. Sirius noticed as well and took a step toward Harry as Harry said the words.

"Crucio!"

I lifted my hands, both of them, flat out in front of me, in the hopes that it would help just stop the Curse. It slowed even more than it had before, but didn't stop. Once again, the Curse struck me head on. Once again, I found myself on the floor, screaming and writhing in unbearable pain.

"Finite!"

I heard Sirius say the words, but it took a moment for the Curse to lift. I lay there on the cushion I'd landed on, tears streaming down my cheeks. Both Sirius and Harry were by my side before I could catch my breath. Sirius lifted me into his arms.

"Are you okay?" he asked, moving toward the cot. I tried to nod, but my head didn't want to move. "Jules?"

"Her nose is bleeding," Harry said, picking up a cloth from one of the tables and gently wiping my face. "I thought I saw her hit it when she fell."

"Jules, answer me," Sirius said, laying me on the cot. I blinked at him. My muscles felt tightly wound, and were humming like a tuning fork.

"Aqua," Harry said, filling a glass for me. He handed it to Sirius, who held it to my mouth.

"I don't know whether to have her drink it, or pour it over her head. Jules, answer me!"

"I'm fine," I croaked, slowly rolling on to my side and curling in to a ball. "I hurt."

Sirius smiled sadly, hugging me tight. "I know you do."

I saw Harry get up and move to the shelves. He returned with a potion.

"Drink it, it's one of Madam Pomfrey's."

I took it from him and swallowed it quickly. It burned like acid going down my throat. Amazingly, I felt my muscles stop humming and I was able to sit up.

"That time was worse than before," I said, rubbing my head.

"The second time is usually the worst," Sirius agreed, handing me the cloth for my nose. I stared at the blood on it.

"Now you tell me," I joked weakly, holding the cloth under my nose. Sirius performed a Healing Charm, which made the bleeding stop. "Good thing it's almost time for bed. I've already got the shakes."

"I used to think that the after effects were as bad as the actual Curse," Sirius said. "Can you walk?"

"Sure," I said. "Though probably not without help."

Sirius helped me to my feet, wrapping his arm under mine. My knees wobbled and I leaned on him. Harry opened the door as we made our way out.

"Do you want to see Madam Pomfrey first?" he asked. I shook my head.

"I had a potion. I'll be fine with some sleep."

Sirius helped me all the way up to Gryffindor Tower, though I told him after a while I could walk. He left us at the Fat Lady. Harry helped me through it. The common room was deserted.

"I can't help you up to your dormitory, I'm afraid," Harry said to me.

"I'm okay, really," I replied. "I'll make it up there, I promise."

Harry nodded. He started to walk away then stopped.

"I'm sorry I hit you with the Curse again, Jules. I hate seeing you like that."

"Harry, I knew the risk."

"I know. But I hate doing it to you."

"I know."

"Well…I think you'll be okay after you sleep."

"Good night, Harry."

"Good night."

Okay, I know I'm a horrible, awful person for not updating this more often. I am trying to work on it every day, but the words just won't come. I've lost my way with this story. I still know how I want it to end, it's just the telling of it that isn't working. Don't worry, I'm not going to give up on it, but that means that the chapters will take a tiny bit longer to be finished. Don't give up on me! Enjoy this chapter.


	24. Bête Noire

All characters depicted here belong to JK Rowling. I own nothing but the pleasure of writing this particular story.

**Bête Noire**

"It is done, My Lord."

"Good."

"Do you think it will work?"

"I do not do something unless I am certain it will. You ought to know that by now."

"Of course, sir. I meant no disrespect."

"Has he broken yet?"

"Not yet, sir. They've barely begun to warm up. They are enjoying this one. It's not every day we get a member of the Order of the Phoenix."

"Indeed."

I sat up, drenched with sweat, my whole body shaking. The voices of the two men echoed in my ears and pounded in my head. The cold humour in the one voice made the hair on the back of my neck stand on end.

And what I had seen as they'd rounded the corner. I didn't want to relive it, but I forced my mind back to it.

Remus. Tethered to a wall, his eyes bruised, his nose bloody. Defiant and angry, his eyes steely.

I ripped the hangings back and quickly pulled my robes over my nightgown. I had to see Remus. I had to know he was safe.

I knew it was just a nightmare. I'd had nightmares after my first go with the Cruciatus too. But this one had been so clear.

I stopped for a moment, listening intently for some sound from Hermione. The last time I'd had a nightmare that vivid, she'd had one as well. Her breathing was deep and even. She was fast asleep.

I held my breath as I opened the dormitory door and moved down the stairs slowly. I glanced around the common room as I got there. The fire was low, its dying light casting creepy shadows along the walls. After I was sure it was empty, I set out across the room.

"Who's that?" the Fat Lady murmured sleepily as I opened the portrait. I didn't answer her, merely turned my back, hoping she wouldn't see my face. Not that she wouldn't see me when I gave her the password later.

I hurried along the corridor, my ears listening hard for any sound other than my own footsteps. It was hard to hear over my heart beating. I didn't want to be caught. I _had _to see Remus.

Who had I seen in my dreams?

I heard a soft meow at my ankle. I gasped and looked down, straight into the wide yellow eyes of Mrs Norris. I cried out loud and took the first turn I could find, sprinting along the deserted corridor. Harry had warned me about the strange connection between Mrs Norris and Mr Filch. I didn't wish to stick around to see if it was true. I ran as hard as I could, barely slowing when the stitch in my side caused my breath to come in sharp, painful gasps.

I finally slowed to a walk, allowing myself to look to see if anyone had followed me. Seeing nobody, I stopped completely, trying to catch my breath. Common sense took over and I ducked into an empty classroom and leaned against the cool stone wall, bent over with one hand on my knee and the other jammed into my side. I breathed deeply and evenly, hoping to get my wind back quickly.

I chuckled quietly when I finally caught my breath. Sneaking around a school, trying not to get caught, at my age.

I scanned the area quickly when I left the classroom a few moments later. I started walking in the direction I had run in. I didn't know exactly where I was, but I knew I couldn't go back the way I'd come from. Filch might still be there.

"Out late, aren't you?"

I let out a cry and spun, both of my hands out in front of me. Sirius stood there, leaning lazily against a door jamb, his Invisibility Cloak hanging over one arm. He grinned at me.

"What the hell are you thinking?" I snapped. "Don't sneak up on me like that!"

"What are you doing out so late?" he asked, coming toward me.

"I am going to the hospital wing. I had a bad dream about Remus. I need to see him."

Sirius frowned at me. "What sort of dream?"  
"A bad one. What are you doing down here?"

He grinned sheepishly. "You raced right past my thinking spot. I thought something must be up and thought I better check it out."

"Your thinking spot?" I asked, intrigued. "Where is it?"

He smiled at me, but didn't answer.

"Since I am a teacher now, I suppose I should take some points from you and send you back to your dormitory," he mused. I opened my mouth to protest, but he raised his hand, cutting me off. I closed my mouth with a snap. "However," he continued. "I am a Marauder first and foremost, so what I am going to do is give you my Invisibility Cloak. A loan, just so we're clear. I want it back first thing tomorrow."

He held it out to me.

"You're not going to punish me?" I asked, surprised.

"Do you want me to?" he replied, pulling his arm back. I shook my head fervently, reaching for the Cloak and swinging it around my shoulders. Sirius grinned at me again. I leaned up and hugged him tightly, which caused a slight flush to spread across his cheekbones. I grinned back at him and flipped the hood up, covering me completely.

"See you in the morning."

"Good night, Sirius!"

I walked away from him, continuing in the direction I'd been going before he'd stopped me. I glanced back at him. He'd stuck his hands in his pockets and was ambling away slowly.

"By the way," he said casually over his shoulder. "You want to take your second left, go up the two flights of stairs. On the right there will be a tapestry. Go through it, take that passage. It will take you to just up the hall from where you're going."

I blew a kiss at him and took off at a run up the hall. I found the second left and turned that way, making sure to keep covered with the Cloak.

I found the tapestry with ease, pushing my way through it impatiently. The passageway beyond was small, dark and had a slight scent of mildew. I hurried along it, wishing I had a flashlight with me. The image of Harry lighting his wand flit across my mind. I frowned, trying to remember the words he'd said. Would I be able to do it? _Lumos, _wasn't it?

"_Lumos,"_ I muttered, holding my right hand out in front of me. I stared as each of my fingertips lit, a dim, magical light filling the passage around me. "Amazing," I whispered, shaking my head.

Keeping my hand out in front of me, I was able to walk more quickly in the light. The passage was smooth, but wasn't a well used one. Once in a while I would walk through a cobweb, which would cause me to quiver with disgust and fright. I've never liked spiders.

Finally I came to the end of the passage. I pushed through it and, sure enough, found myself just down the hall from the hospital wing. I silently thanked Sirius and sprinted for the door.

I pulled it open, looking around the silent room. I could see a faint glow coming from the far right, which I assumed was Madam Pomfrey's room. The only other people in there were a student and the curtain that blocked Remus from view. I walked slowly toward it, keeping as silent as possible.

I came around the curtain, careful not to disturb it. Remus was fast asleep on his side. I stood there silently for a moment, just watching him sleep. He must have felt my presence because his eyes slid open slowly and he rolled on to his back, his hand instinctively reaching for his wand.

"Is someone there?" he murmured sleepily. I carefully pulled the hood of the Cloak back, revealing only my head. "What're you doing here?"

I frowned. He must have been sleeping soundly; he didn't usually combine his words like that. I slipped the Cloak off my shoulders and rested it over my arm.

"I needed to see you," I whispered back.

"Why?"

"I had a nightmare about you and I had to make sure you were okay."

Remus stared at me as though I had sprouted a second head. To my absolute horror, I felt my eyes well up with tears. Embarrassed, I turned my face to the side so he wouldn't see.

"I didn't mean to wake you, Remus," I said softly, my voice thick. I took hold of the Cloak and made to put it back on. "I'll let you go back to sleep."

I was about to pull the Cloak over my head when Remus sat up, rubbing his eyes.

"Wait," he said, flipping his blanket off and sliding his legs over the side. "Wait, I didn't mean to upset you. You surprised me, is all. I wasn't expecting you."

I paused, looking over at him. He smiled at me, reaching out a hand.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I'm very sorry."

I shook my head and took his hand. "It's okay, Remus."

He slid his legs back under the blanket and patted the feather bed. I didn't need a further invitation. I slid in beside him. He kissed the side of my neck softly and wrapped his arm over me, tucking me safely against his chest.

"Maybe you should keep that Cloak on," he whispered in my ear, his breath warm on my ear. "In case Madam Pomfrey finds you."

"But you said she knew about us."

"Oh. Well, she does. But she won't be happy to find you here."

I nodded. That made sense. I spread the Cloak over me like a blanket. Remus pulled me even tighter against him.

"This is strange," he laughed quietly. I laughed too, imagining how it must look, holding on to air.

It seemed like a long time since I'd fallen asleep in Remus' arms, though it had only been since the Quidditch match. I felt safe at Hogwarts, but I was at home in Remus' arms.

"Where have you _been?_" Sirius hissed as he opened his office door the next morning. I pulled the Cloak off and he gaped at my appearance. I hadn't bothered to brush my hair or to straighten my robes. "You look like you had a fun night," he said with a grin, waggling his eyebrows at me. I laughed.

"I missed sleeping next to Remus," I admitted to him. I knew I was smiling like an idiot.

"Sleeping, eh?"

I laughed and gave Sirius a shove. "Nothing happened," I said, still laughing. "Not in a school hospital wing!"

Sirius grinned at me again and handed me a cup of coffee. I glanced at it, surprised.

"I wasn't sure what you took in it," he said. "But I thought you might like a cup."

"Mmm, I'd love one." I raised the cup and breathed in the aroma. It smelled heavenly.

I looked up to find Sirius laughing at me. I raised my eyebrows at him.

"You need to spend the night with Remus more often," he said simply.

"Are you implying that I'm not a happy person?"

"Not at all!" he denied quickly. "You're just not usually _this _happy!"

I smiled, taking a sip of the coffee. Wow, it was strong.

"Good coffee," I said, only lying a little bit. Once you got past the strength, it wasn't bad.

"You're a horrible liar," he laughed.

"You're in a pretty good mood yourself," I observed. Sirius laughed.

"Are you implying I'm not a happy person?" he inquired sweetly. I stuck my tongue out at him. "So are you going to tell me about your dream?"

"I…Are you going to tell me why you were in your thinking spot?"

"No."

I snorted into my coffee.

"It's nothing to worry about," I assured him. "I had nightmares the first time I was hit by the Cruciatus too."

Sirius watched me silently as I spoke. I thought I saw concern flare briefly but it was gone before I could be certain.

"You should get back to your dormitory," he said finally. "Before the other girls are awake."

I nodded, finishing my coffee and setting the cup on his desk.

"Thanks for the coffee, Sirius. And for the Cloak and for directions."

"Anytime, Jules."

I waved as I left the room, moving quickly back toward Gryffindor Tower. I knew I wouldn't be in trouble for being out in the morning, but I didn't want to run into anybody when I looked the way I did.

I made it safely to the portrait of the Fat Lady. She smiled drowsily at me.

"Out for a morning walk?"

"Um, yes, I am," I lied. I gave her the password and the portrait swung open. I hurried inside and was just about to go through the door leading up to the girls dormitories when, "You're up early."

I gasped, spinning. I hadn't expected anyone to be up that early. I was also getting tired of being snuck up on while I was sneaking around!

He was sitting in the chair directly in front of the fire. He hadn't turned his head to look at me, merely continued to gaze into the fire. I moved toward him and saw him reach up quickly and wipe his eyes.

"Neville?"

He looked up. His face was pale and his eyes were slightly red.

"Hello," he said coolly. He hadn't warmed up to me at all, though I hadn't really spoken to him much.

"Are you alright?" I asked.

"Fine." His answer was clipped, as though my question annoyed him.

"You're up early too."

"Couldn't sleep. Where did you go?"

"For a walk. I couldn't sleep either."

"You've been walking for a while."

I felt something drop in the pit of my stomach.

"What do you mean?"

"You left about six hours ago."

I stared at him, my jaw open slightly.

"How do you know that?"

He rolled his eyes. "I was here, obviously."

"No you weren't, I looked around the room."

He smirked at me and held up an Invisibility Cloak. Harry's Invisibility Cloak.

"He was sleeping. I didn't figure he'd mind," Neville said simply, as though reading my thoughts.

"I see," I said. The fact that he'd taken Harry's Cloak without permission made me angry, but I didn't say anything. "What's keeping you from sleeping?"

"Being awake."

I raised my eyebrows. He was being very condescending toward me, as though I was inferior to him.

"Well, I'll let you sit here then." I stood and walked toward the stairs leading toward my dormitory.

"So who did you sneak out to see?" he asked casually. "A student in another house? Here I thought that you and Harry were an item."

I stared at the back of his head, shocked beyond words. He slowly turned to look at me.

"I…what?"

He rolled his eyes again. "You snuck out here hours ago and you just came back. You look like you've been … busy since you left. I'm just curious as to who you snuck out to see."

"I didn't sneak out to see anyone!" I denied hotly. "I had a nightmare and I went for a walk!"

"A nightmare keeps you out that long?"  
"I went and visited Fang and fell asleep at Hagrid's!"

Neville looked surprised. I felt bad for lying, but I couldn't tell him the truth. Dumbledore had been explicit about that.

"You knew Hagrid?"

"No. I came after he died. But I know Fang and I know the hut was his."

"So you and Harry are together?"  
I stared at him again. This time it was my turn to roll my eyes.

"Harry is my friend, Neville. He's nothing more. Harry is with Ginny."

Neville smirked at me but said nothing more. I rolled my eyes again and went up to my dormitory.

"Nosy little…" I muttered under my breath as I went through the door. I quietly made my way to my bed and crawled under the sheets, pulling the curtain closed. I lay there for some time, just staring at the curtains.

"Julianne."

I groaned, rolling on to my other side.

"Julianne."

"Go 'way," I muttered, opening my eyes. Harry stood before me. I gasped and stood up on my bed, my blanket around my shoulders. "How did you get in here?" I shrieked, looking closer at him. The closer look revealed that it wasn't Harry. "James," I whispered.

"He needs you."

"Who needs me?"

James smiled kindly. "You know who."

"_Voldemort_ needs me?"

James actually laughed at that. "Not _that _You-Know-Who. _You _know _who_ I mean."

"How are you here?" I demanded. His edges had started to blur again.

"You need my help." He smiled again. "And he needs yours."

"_Who _needs my help?" I cried, kneeling down on my bed. James was even more faded. "Don't go again, please. I need you to tell me!"

"I can't."

"Stop being so damned cryptic!"

"Remember, if you need us..."

"You can help. Got it. _Who _needs me?"

He was gone. I opened my eyes for real that time and swore under my breath.

"Whoa, watch that mouth, Jules," Hermione said with a laugh. She poked her head through the hangings on my bed, about to say something when she saw my appearance. "What happened to you?"

"Another bad dream," I growled, throwing my legs over the bed and picking a clean robe out of my bureau. "I have to go see Remus or Sirius."

"What about?"

I smiled tightly at her, but said nothing.

"Can't say, I guess."

"No."

I was dressed in record time and was pulling my hair back as Hermione and I went down to the common room. Harry was there, but Ron and Ginny were no where to be seen. Harry appeared angry.

"What's up?"

"Neville," he snarled angrily.

"Ah, taking your Cloak. I know, it annoyed me too."

I glanced at the two of them. Both were staring at me.

"What?"

"How'd you know?" Harry demanded. "I only found out this morning."

"Me too," I answered. "I've got to go. Talk to you guys later."

Without a backward glance, I moved toward the portrait hole. The Fat Lady called a cheerful "Good morning" at me, which I barely replied to. I hurried toward the Defence classroom.

"Rem…er…Professor Lupin?" I called, pulling the door open. "Professor Black?"

"Just me still, Jules. Remus is still in the hospital wing."

"James visited me again," I said without preamble. "Just now."

Sirius stared at me, surprised.

"What did he say?"

"'He needs you'."

"Who needs you?"

I smiled sheepishly. "I asked that and he said 'You know who.' I said 'Voldemort needs me?'"

Sirius laughed, perching on the edge of his desk. "So who did he mean?"  
"That's just it. I have no idea. I told him I was getting tired of the cryptic messages."

Sirius didn't even smile. He ran a hand through his hair, frowning thoughtfully.

"Harry needs our help, I know that…but James knows we know that. Dumbledore?"

"Why would Albus need _my _help?"

Sirius shook his head slowly. "He said that you _knew _who needed your help?"

I nodded silently. Sirius stood and started to pace slowly.

"I'm sure it's not Harry or Dumbledore. Ron?"

"What about Neville?"

Sirius paused in his searching, rubbing his jaw thoughtfully. "He for sure said '_he'_?"

Again I nodded.

"Could be Neville. I don't know."

"What…How could I help Neville?"

Sirius wasn't listening to me. "I remember a spell…A spell for raising-"

"What's going on in here?"

We both spun. I felt slightly guilty as Harry entered the room.

"Jules had another visit from James," Sirius said absently. Harry looked at me.

"How come you didn't say anything?" he demanded.

"I didn't want to say anything in front of Hermione."

"What'd he say?"  
I filled him in quickly. Harry sat in his desk chair, trying to help us come up with the names of people who James might have meant.

"And you have no idea who he meant, even though he said you know?"

"No, I have no idea who he meant!" I answered testily.

"We should stop and go down for breakfast," Sirius finally said. "I'm starving and we might be able to think better after we eat."

Harry and I both agreed, so we followed Sirius out of the room and down to the Great Hall.

"When is Remus getting out of the hospital wing?" Harry asked.

"Day after tomorrow, I think," Sirius answered. "That's the impression I got, anyway."

I started to slow as we walked along. He couldn't have meant…

"Jules?"

"What is it, Jules?" Sirius asked.

"Well…you just kind of made me think…" I said slowly.

"Think what?"

"Of Remus."

Sirius smirked, rolling his eyes. "Everything makes you think of Remus."

I smiled. "That's not what I meant. But what if James meant that Remus needs me?"

"Why would Remus need your help?"

"He didn't say that Remus needed help, not at first anyway. He said 'He needs you'. Maybe he meant that Remus just needs me _there._ He needs my support."

Sirius nodded pensively. "That could be."

"D'you really think that was it?" Harry asked sceptically. I shrugged, not really sure at all.

"Well, before, when we were travelling, before I knew he was a werewolf, it seemed to help him when I was there. And last night - "

"We can discuss it more in depth later," Sirius interrupted. "Go eat. I'll see you after your classes. There's something that I thought of, but when Harry came in, I forgot what it was. Maybe by then I'll have remembered."

We agreed to meet him after Harry's class. I would be spending the day doing homework, as it wasn't a day that I had classes.

"Where did you go, Jules?" Ron asked as Harry and I joined them at the table.

"I had to see Sirius about something."

They waited for me to elaborate and looked slightly disappointed when I merely poured myself a goblet of milk instead.

"How did your session go last night?" Ginny asked instead. "Did you stop Cruciatus?"

Seamus glanced over at us, causing Harry to glare in Ginny's direction. She flushed slightly but looked at us expectantly.

"No," I answered. "I didn't."

"Are you over this foolishness then?" Hermione demanded. "Are you going to stop trying it?"

"No, Hermione, we're not," I replied, annoyed. "It might seem foolish to you, but I need to know. It's not that I want to know. I absolutely need to know what I can stop and what I can't."

"You can't - "  
"Hermione, do you honestly think I would put myself through Cruciatus if I didn't feel I could stop it?" I snapped. "I can, I can feel it. I just have to figure out exactly _how._"

Hermione sighed softly, nodding. "Sorry, Jules. I just hate the thought of you…"

I immediately felt bad for snapping at her. I reached over and gave her hand a squeeze.

"I know, Hermione. I'm sorry for snapping."

"So how come Neville had your Cloak, Harry?" Ron whispered. Harry rolled his eyes.

"Who knows. I was so furious that he had it that I barely even talked to him."

"He used it to sneak down to the common room, he said."

"How d'you know?" Ron asked, surprised.

"I was up early this morning. I, er, had a nightmare and went for a walk. I ran into Neville in the common room. I was annoyed that he had Harry's Cloak too."

"What makes me so angry," Harry said, "is the fact that he had to go into my trunk to get it."

"You'll have to put a better locking spell on it," Hermione said. "I can do it, if you like."

"Thanks."

"I can't believe he went through your trunk," Ginny sighed, shaking her head. "That's not the Neville we knew."

"I told him not to do it again," Harry replied. "That's about all I said. I had to leave or else I was going to start shouting."

"Since when have you worried about shouting at someone?" Ron asked, grinning at Harry.

"Since I don't know what sort of state he's in."

"Ah. I guess."

"The post is -" Ginny started to comment, just as hundreds of owls came soaring through the windows. Ginny laughed as they flew around, delivering mail to their owners. "I was going to say it's a few minutes late today."

I chuckled to myself, taking a sip of my milk. A screech owl landed on the table in front of Harry and stuck its leg out. Surprised, Harry removed the roll of parchment that had been tied to its leg. The owl ruffled its wings and took flight immediately. We turned to Harry.

"What is it, Harry?" Hermione asked. Harry shrugged.

"Not sure," he answered, carefully unrolling the parchment. "There's…"

We leaned forward as he trailed off. His face had gone pale and his eyes were wide.

"What is it?" Ginny demanded.

"It's from the Ministry of Magic."

**---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**Again, I'm sorry for the length of time for this chapter to come. I'm struggling with it, and it has taken me this long to get this one to where I can read it and not cringe, lol. I've started the next chapter but I don't know how long it will take either. Again, don't give up on it and please be patient. Thanks, and enjoy the chapter!**


End file.
